chilly
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈt͡ʃɪli/
rhymes: -ɪli
homophone: Chile
homophone: chile
homophone: chili
homophone: chilli
Forms: form: chillier
form: chilliest
Etymology: From chill + -y. Cognate with Swedish kylig (“chilly”), Norwegian kjølig (“chilly”).
Senses: examples: text: […] The Aſparagus grew; but in three or four Years complained, by coming up ſmall; occaſioned by the chilly Effluvia, that proceeded from the Water lodg'd at the bottom of the Pit; […]
ref: [1733], William Ellis, “The Nature and Improvement of Rye”, in Chiltern and Vale Farming Explained, […], London: Printed for the author […] [a]nd sold by W. Meadows, […]; H. Walthoe, […]; J. Parker, […], →OCLC, page 258:
text: The Alps, the woods, and marſhes of the vaſt region of Scandinavia (for I will conſider it in the great) give ſhelter to numbers of quadrupeds unknown to Britain. Thoſe who brave the ſeverity of the extreme north of this country are diſtinguiſhed by the addition of the Lapland name. The Elk, Nº 3 of this Work, is found in many parts: the Rein, Godde, Nº 4, is confined to the chillieſt places: […]
ref: 1784, Thomas Pennant, “Quadrupeds of Scandinavia [marginal note]”, in Arctic Zoology, volume I (Introduction; Class I. Quadrupeds.), London: Printed by Henry Hughs, →OCLC, page LXXIV:
text: The fogs were ſucceeded by ſhowery weather, which promoted vegetation as much as the chilly nights would permit; but, after a ſhort time, theſe chilly nights were accompanied with chilly days, and the progreſs of Nature received a ſecond check, though not unfavourable in the main.
ref: 1792 May, “a Southern Faunist” [pseudonym], “The Chronicle of the Seasons”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine: And Historical Chronicle, volume LXII, part I, number V, London: Printed by John Nichols, […] and sold by Eliz[abeth] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 403, column 1:
text: There was an earthy savour in the air, a chilly bareness in the place, which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light, and not too much to eat.
ref: 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 50:
text: Nothing like a slock of cake on a chilly evening, is there?
ref: 1935, Howard Lindsay, She Loves Me Not: A Comedy in Two Acts: Dramatized from Edward Hope’s Novel, French’s standard library edition, New York, N.Y.; Los Angeles, Calif.: Samuel French, Inc., →OCLC, act I, scene II.B, page 15:
text: This will feel like a dream compared to the chilly high temperatures forecast from the mid-Atlantic to New England, where you’ll be lucky to see the mercury in the thermometer climb out of the 40’s.
ref: 2021 January 16, Derek Van Dam, “Northeast will be wet and chilly while Southern California should sizzle during holiday weekend”, in CNN:
text: Even with chillier weather approaching, cold drinks are popular with Starbucks customers, accounting for roughly 75% of Starbucks’ total beverage US sales in its most recent quarter.
ref: 2022 August 29, Jordan Valinsky, “Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte is coming back at a higher price”, in CNN Business:
text: The chilliest game in the NFL’s history took place on New Year’s Eve of 1967, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, according to the NFL.
ref: 2024 January 13, Ashley R. Williams, “NFL moves Pittsburgh at Buffalo playoff game to Monday due to winter storm, Miami at Kansas City is still on for tonight”, in CNN:
text: On the day that RAIL meets Mick Whelan, it's during a particularly chilly cold snap. A story has broken in the national press about train drivers refusing to walk to their cabs at Edge Hill depot, because the paths to the trains have not been cleared of snow.
ref: 2025 March 5, Richard Wilcock, “In defence of the train drivers”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 30:
coordinate_terms: damp
bone-chilling
frosty
nippy
glosses: Cold enough to cause discomfort.
examples: text: I’m getting rather chilly over here – could you shut the window please?
text: June 18. Rain'd all Day, and I ſtay'd within. I thought at this Time the Rain felt Cold, and I was ſomething chilly, which I knew was not uſual in that Latitude.
ref: 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 101:
text: And now, behold, with the first imagination of danger, or, if you will, the first mighty and terrific trial of your courage, you shrink away, and are content to be handed down as men who had not strength enough to endure cold and peril; and so, poor souls, they were chilly and returned to their warm fire-sides.
ref: 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 169:
glosses: Feeling uncomfortably cold.
examples: text: She gave me a chilly look when I made the suggestion.
text: Her smile is chilly—and her beam,
In that time of dreariness, will seem
(So like you gather in your breath)
A portrait taken after death.
ref: 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
text: Jens gave a little chilly laugh and took his hand: "I shan't ever forget the day I moved here, no, you can bet your life!—and now I've got to see if I can't move in here once more."
ref: 1930, Olav Duun, “The Feast Draws Nigh”, in Arthur G. Chater, transl., The People of Juvik: A Saga of Modern Norway: Translated from the Norwegian, volume III, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →OCLC, page 136:
text: Lord Alton's black brows rose. His features became perceptibly harder, his blue gaze perceptibly chillier. "Have you taken leave of your senses, Duckett?"
ref: 1994, Stephanie Laurens, chapter 1, in Impetuous Innocent, 6th Australian paperback edition, Chatswood, N.S.W.: Mira Books, published 2012, →ISBN:
text: An example of an effort to extend American civil procedure into the international arena is the history of the American Law Institute/Unidroit Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure. When the American Law Institute first attempted to address transnational civil procedure in the early 1990's, it came up with a set of Rules of Transnational Civil Procedure based on the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Foreign jurists gave this first effort a chilly reception.
ref: 2008, Peter L. Murray, “Reception and Transmission of Procedural Law in the United States: A Two-way Street?”, in Masahisa Deguchi, Marcel Storme, editors, The Reception and Transmission of Civil Procedural Law in the Global Society: Legislative and Legal Educational Assistance to Other Countries in Procedural Law, Antwerp; Apeldoorn: Maklu Publishers, →ISBN, page 328:
glosses: Distant and cool; unfriendly.
Synonyms: cold
Derived terms: word: chillily
word: chilliness
word: chilly bin
word: chillybin
word: chilly climate
word: lay chilly
word: unchilly
Related terms: word: chill
word: chillax
word: chiller
word: chilling
word: chillingly
word: chillness
word: cold-sensitive