chic

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See also: Chic

English

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WOTD – 8 July 2018

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from French chic (“elegant”), which in turn is probably derived from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk (“hasty”), schikken (“to arrange”) and Old English sċēon (“to happen”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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chic (comparative chicer or more chic, superlative chicest or most chic)

  1. Elegant, stylish.
    • 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:
      Mrs. Hominy, sir, is the lady of Major Hominy, one of our chicest spirits; and belongs Toe[sic] one of our most aristocratic families.
    • 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:
      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— […]
    • 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:
      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.
    • 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:
      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.
    • 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:
      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, […]
    • 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:
      For Murray Marks he [Richard Norman Shaw] designed a chic Oxford Street shopfront for the display of 'pots' (1875–6), […]
    • 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:
      Spanish Manchego cheese seems so much chicer than cheddar, but either pairs well with almonds, dried fruit, and rice crackers.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Terms derived from chic (adjective)
Translations
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Noun

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chic (countable and uncountable, plural chics)

  1. (chiefly uncountable) Good form; style.
    • 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 115:
      A little pear-grey glove, dropped and abandoned on the floor, may give its owner's sex and chic to the whole room; whilst an entire house-full of so-called womanly trifles will have only a neuter flavour about them, if chic be not there.
    • 1976 December 18, David Holland, “Dear Santa...”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 25, page 11:
      You can be assured that whatever article of wearable chic you pick-up at this Newbury St. shop, you will not see it walking up and down the streets a hundred times.
    • 2007, Matthew Craske, “A New Theatre of Death and Commemoration”, in The Silent Rhetoric of the Body: A History of Monumental Sculpture and Commemorative Art in England, 1720–1770, New Haven, Conn., London: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 60:
      [T]he macabre, when celebrated with the panache of a new range of retailed products, became a glib manifestation of chic: […]
    • 2014, Susan Falls, “Notes [Notes to Chapter 5]”, in Clarity, Cut, and Culture: The Many Meanings of Diamonds, New York, N.Y., London: New York University Press, →ISBN, footnote 4, page 195:
      Terms such as "ghetto chic" and "gangsta' chic" are part of a cluster of high-fashion terms that describe styles that are in vogue but set against mainstream norms. Other "chics" include "nerd chic," "geek chic," and the controversial "heroin chic," in which models appear as drug addicts […]
  2. (countable) A person with (a particular type of) chic.
    • 1978, Nelly Wilson, “Anarchism”, in Bernard-Lazare: Antisemitism and the Problem of Jewish Identity in Late Nineteenth-century France, paperback edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published 2010, →ISBN, part I (Before the Dreyfus Affair), page 47:
      It was probably fortunate for him [Bernard Lazare] that the police, who started keeping a fairly regular watch on his activities in April 1893, also inclined towards thinking that he was merely following the fashion of other young ‘bourgeois chics’ (though at times they evidently had second thoughts).
    • 1995, Pierre Maranda, “Beyond Postmodernism: Resonant Anthropology”, in Gilles Bibeau, Ellen Corin, editors, Beyond Textuality: Asceticism and Violence in Anthropological Interpretation (Approaches to Semiotics; 120), Berlin, New York, N.Y.: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 329:
      Striving for admission in those exclusive circles so as to gain higher social recognition and acceptance by the chics, anthropologists who were already subservient to other philosophical musings such as hermeneutics and phenomenology, started to upgrade their language and to treat cultures as "texts".
    • 2005, Pamela Anderson, Star Struck, New York, N.Y.: Atria Books, →ISBN, page 149:
      The potheads were either smoking or eating or giggling or some combination of the three. The heroin chics were nodding out.
Usage notes
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  • The noun chic is very often used with an attributive noun or adjective modifier, indicating the kind of style, such as “boho-chic”, “heroin chic”, “shabby chic”, and so on.
Derived terms
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Terms derived from chic (noun)
Translations
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Further reading

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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Yucatec Maya chiʼik (“coati; buffoon”).

Noun

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chic (plural chics)

  1. A kind of ritual buffoon or clown in Yucatec Maya culture.
    • 1972, Sarah C. Blaffer, The Black-man of Zinacantan: A Central American Legend, Austin and London: University of Texas Press, page 51:
      the chics of Dzitas, Yucatán, if they caught a small boy, removed his clothes and rubbed gunpowder in his anus. In the Yucatec barrio of “Santiago,” the chics amuse crowds by lassoing men and fining them
    • 2001, Victoria Schlesinger, Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide, 2nd paperback edition, Austin: University of Texas Press, published 2004, page 178:
      Along with them came a man of the village known for his humorous antics; he was called the chic. Riding atop the cut tree, the chic danced and performed for the people as the procession made its way back to the village.

Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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chic (comparative chiquer, superlative chicst)

  1. chic, elegant
    Synonym: sjiek

Declension

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Declension of chic
uninflected chic
inflected chique
comparative chiquer
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial chic chiquer het chicst
het chicste
indefinite m./f. sing. chique chiquere chicste
n. sing. chic chiquer chicste
plural chique chiquere chicste
definite chique chiquere chicste
partitive chics chiquers —

Derived terms

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Finnish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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chic (comparative chicimpi, superlative chicein)

  1. chic

Declension

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Inflection of chic (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative chic chicit
genitive chicin chicien
partitive chiciä chicejä
illative chiciin chiceihin
singular plural
nominative chic chicit
accusative nom. chic chicit
gen. chicin
genitive chicin chicien
partitive chiciä chicejä
inessive chicissä chiceissä
elative chicistä chiceistä
illative chiciin chiceihin
adessive chicillä chiceillä
ablative chiciltä chiceiltä
allative chicille chiceille
essive chicinä chiceinä
translative chiciksi chiceiksi
abessive chicittä chiceittä
instructive — chicein
comitative — chiceine
Possessive forms of chic (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
Rare. Only used with substantive adjectives.
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative chicini chicini
accusative nom. chicini chicini
gen. chicini
genitive chicini chicieni
partitive chiciäni chicejäni
inessive chicissäni chiceissäni
elative chicistäni chiceistäni
illative chiciini chiceihini
adessive chicilläni chiceilläni
ablative chiciltäni chiceiltäni
allative chicilleni chiceilleni
essive chicinäni chiceinäni
translative chicikseni chiceikseni
abessive chicittäni chiceittäni
instructive — —
comitative — chiceineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative chicisi chicisi
accusative nom. chicisi chicisi
gen. chicisi
genitive chicisi chiciesi
partitive chiciäsi chicejäsi
inessive chicissäsi chiceissäsi
elative chicistäsi chiceistäsi
illative chiciisi chiceihisi
adessive chicilläsi chiceilläsi
ablative chiciltäsi chiceiltäsi
allative chicillesi chiceillesi
essive chicinäsi chiceinäsi
translative chiciksesi chiceiksesi
abessive chicittäsi chiceittäsi
instructive — —
comitative — chiceinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative chicimme chicimme
accusative nom. chicimme chicimme
gen. chicimme
genitive chicimme chiciemme
partitive chiciämme chicejämme
inessive chicissämme chiceissämme
elative chicistämme chiceistämme
illative chiciimme chiceihimme
adessive chicillämme chiceillämme
ablative chiciltämme chiceiltämme
allative chicillemme chiceillemme
essive chicinämme chiceinämme
translative chiciksemme chiceiksemme
abessive chicittämme chiceittämme
instructive — —
comitative — chiceinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative chicinne chicinne
accusative nom. chicinne chicinne
gen. chicinne
genitive chicinne chicienne
partitive chiciänne chicejänne
inessive chicissänne chiceissänne
elative chicistänne chiceistänne
illative chiciinne chiceihinne
adessive chicillänne chiceillänne
ablative chiciltänne chiceiltänne
allative chicillenne chiceillenne
essive chicinänne chiceinänne
translative chiciksenne chiceiksenne
abessive chicittänne chiceittänne
instructive — —
comitative — chiceinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative chicinsä chicinsä
accusative nom. chicinsä chicinsä
gen. chicinsä
genitive chicinsä chiciensä
partitive chiciään
chiciänsä 		chicejään
chicejänsä
inessive chicissään
chicissänsä 		chiceissään
chiceissänsä
elative chicistään
chicistänsä 		chiceistään
chiceistänsä
illative chiciinsä chiceihinsä
adessive chicillään
chicillänsä 		chiceillään
chiceillänsä
ablative chiciltään
chiciltänsä 		chiceiltään
chiceiltänsä
allative chicilleen
chicillensä 		chiceilleen
chiceillensä
essive chicinään
chicinänsä 		chiceinään
chiceinänsä
translative chicikseen
chiciksensä 		chiceikseen
chiceiksensä
abessive chicittään
chicittänsä 		chiceittään
chiceittänsä
instructive — —
comitative — chiceineen
chiceinensä

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Probably from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk (“hasty”), schikken (“to arrange”), Old English sċēon (“to happen”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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chic (plural chic or chics)

  1. elegant, fancy, stylish, posh, swank
  2. considerate

Usage notes

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Chic is either used invariably, in which case the spelling of the plural is chic, or has the plural chics for both the masculine and the feminine forms.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Descendants of chic
  • → Czech: šik
  • → Dutch: chic, sjiek
  • → English: chic
  • → Esperanto: ŝika
  • → Finnish: chic
  • → German: schick
  • → Greek: σικ (sik)
  • → Limburgish: sjiek
  • → Polish: szyk
  • → Portuguese: chique
  • → Romanian: șic
  • → Slovak: šik
  • → Spanish: chic
  • → Turkish: şık
  • → Persian: شیک (šik)
  • → Ukrainian: шик (šyk)

Noun

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chic m (plural chic)

  1. elegance
  2. skillfulness; adroitness

Further reading

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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chic (strong nominative masculine singular chicer, comparative chicer, superlative am chicsten)

  1. Alternative spelling of schick

Usage notes

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  • While the spelling chic is correct for the uninflected adjective, all inflected forms are nonstandard. Correctly, inflected forms must be derived from the preferred spelling schick.

Declension

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Positive forms of chic
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist chic sie ist chic es ist chic sie sind chic
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative chicer chice chices chice
genitive chicen chicer chicen chicer
dative chicem chicer chicem chicen
accusative chicen chice chices chice
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der chice die chice das chice die chicen
genitive des chicen der chicen des chicen der chicen
dative dem chicen der chicen dem chicen den chicen
accusative den chicen die chice das chice die chicen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein chicer eine chice ein chices (keine) chicen
genitive eines chicen einer chicen eines chicen (keiner) chicen
dative einem chicen einer chicen einem chicen (keinen) chicen
accusative einen chicen eine chice ein chices (keine) chicen
Comparative forms of chic
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist chicer sie ist chicer es ist chicer sie sind chicer
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative chicerer chicere chiceres chicere
genitive chiceren chicerer chiceren chicerer
dative chicerem chicerer chicerem chiceren
accusative chiceren chicere chiceres chicere
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der chicere die chicere das chicere die chiceren
genitive des chiceren der chiceren des chiceren der chiceren
dative dem chiceren der chiceren dem chiceren den chiceren
accusative den chiceren die chicere das chicere die chiceren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein chicerer eine chicere ein chiceres (keine) chiceren
genitive eines chiceren einer chiceren eines chiceren (keiner) chiceren
dative einem chiceren einer chiceren einem chiceren (keinen) chiceren
accusative einen chiceren eine chicere ein chiceres (keine) chiceren
Superlative forms of chic
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist am chicsten sie ist am chicsten es ist am chicsten sie sind am chicsten
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative chicster chicste chicstes chicste
genitive chicsten chicster chicsten chicster
dative chicstem chicster chicstem chicsten
accusative chicsten chicste chicstes chicste
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der chicste die chicste das chicste die chicsten
genitive des chicsten der chicsten des chicsten der chicsten
dative dem chicsten der chicsten dem chicsten den chicsten
accusative den chicsten die chicste das chicste die chicsten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein chicster eine chicste ein chicstes (keine) chicsten
genitive eines chicsten einer chicsten eines chicsten (keiner) chicsten
dative einem chicsten einer chicsten einem chicsten (keinen) chicsten
accusative einen chicsten eine chicste ein chicstes (keine) chicsten

Further reading

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  • “chic” in Duden online
  • “chic” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Irish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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chic

  1. Lenited form of cic.

Romanian

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Adjective

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chic m or n (feminine singular chică, masculine plural chici, feminine and neuter plural chice)

  1. Obsolete form of șic.

Declension

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Declension of chic
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite chic chică chici chice
definite chicul chica chicii chicele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite chic chice chici chice
definite chicului chicei chicilor chicelor

References

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  • chic in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʃik/ [ˈʃik]
  • Rhymes: -ik
  • Syllabification: chic

Adjective

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chic m or f (masculine and feminine plural chics)

  1. elegant
    Synonym: elegante

Noun

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chic m (uncountable)

  1. elegance
    Synonym: elegancia

Further reading

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Yucatec Maya

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Noun

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chic

  1. Obsolete spelling of chiʼik.
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