chic
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: shēk
ipa: /ʃiːk/
ipa: /ʃik/
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: sheik
homophone: sheikh stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: chicer
form: more chic
form: chicest
form: most chic
Etymology: Borrowed from French chic (“elegant”), which in turn is probably borrowed from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk (“hasty”), schikken (“to arrange”) and Old English sċēon (“to happen”).
Senses: examples: text: Mrs. Hominy, sir, is the lady of Major Hominy, one of our chicest spirits; and belongs Toe^([sic]) one of our most aristocratic families.
ref: 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “From which It will be Seen that Martin Became a Lion on His Own Account. Together with the Reason Why.”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 277:
text: As he wisht to micks with the very chicest sosaity, and git the best of infmation about this country, Munseer Jools of coarse went and lodgd in Lester Square— […]
ref: 1847, Je—mes Pl—sh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Crinoline”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume XIII, London: Published at the office, 85, Fleet Street, →OCLC, page 72, column 2:
text: There are chic Cercles; or rather, there is only one, the Jockey Club. Why? Nobody can tell. Other Cercles are just as select, as exclusive, as well constituted, but not so chic. […] [T]he Jockey Club is so extremely chic, that many people consider the fact of belonging to it not as an ordinary circumstance, but as a dignity.
ref: 1870 July, “Parisine”, in London Society. An Illustrated Magazine of Light and Amusing Literature for the Hours of Relaxation, volume XVIII, number CIII, London: [Printed by William Clowes and Sons], →OCLC, pages 13–14:
text: What is chic may, in a sense, be fashionable, but what is fashionable cannot be chic. Anybody can wear and do what is fashionable. It is not fashionable unless a lot of people do it, and have it on—until, in three words that grate rather upon the ear, in this connection, it is common. Chic cannt be common.
ref: 1877 September, A. de F., “Chic”, in Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, volume LI, London: Richard Bentley & Son, […] ; New York, N.Y.: Willmer and Rogers; Paris: Galignani, →OCLC, page 118:
text: The hair is actually cut about the ears like that of the quaint Dutch children from the little Island of Martken. This style of coiffure gives to the grown child a chic appearance and naive insouciance that is very fascinating. The hair is worn, either parted on the side or in the middle, and is held with a jeweled band or a fillet of ribbon which is most effective. It seems a fashion not likely to be adopted to any great extent by really smart women, although La Valliere, the chic little Parisian actress, is fascinating in this style of head-dress, […]
ref: 1915 February, “Told in the Boudoir: Concerning Coiffures in General and in Particular”, in Frank Crowninshield, editor, Vanity Fair, volume 3, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Vanity Fair Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 74, column 1:
text: For Murray Marks he [Richard Norman Shaw] designed a chic Oxford Street shopfront for the display of 'pots' (1875–6), […]
ref: 2010, Andrew Saint, “South and North”, in Richard Norman Shaw, revised (2nd) edition, New Haven, Conn.; London: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 61:
text: Spanish Manchego cheese seems so much chicer than cheddar, but either pairs well with almonds, dried fruit, and rice crackers.
ref: 2013, Jenna Mahoney, “Do Some Semi-homemade”, in Mary Hern, editor, Small Apartment Hacks: 101 Ingenious DIY Solutions for Living, Organizing, and Entertaining, Berkeley, Calif.: Ulysses Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Entertaining), page 163:
glosses: Elegant, stylish.
Synonyms: chichi
dapper
fashionable
natty
trendy
voguish
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: chicly
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: chicness
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: grandma chic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: granny chic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: lesbian chic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: superchic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: très chic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: uberchic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: ultrachic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: unchic
sense: Terms derived from chic (adjective)
word: unchicly