chic

See also: Chic

English

WOTD – 8 July 2018

Etymology 1

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

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: shēk, IPA^(key): /ʃiːk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʃik/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk
• Homophones: sheik, sheikh (one pronunciation)

Adjective

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

• chichi
• dapper
• fashionable
• natty
• trendy
• voguish

 

Antonyms

• inelegant, unelegant
• unchic
• unfashionable
• unstylish

 

Derived terms

Terms derived from chic (adjective)

• chicly
• chicness
• grandma chic
• granny chic
• superchic
• très chic
• uberchic
• ultrachic
• unchic
• unchicly

 

Translations

elegant, stylish — see also elegant,‎ stylish

• Arabic: أَنِيق (ʔanīq)
• Bulgarian: елегантен (bg) (eleganten), моден (bg) (moden)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 優美／优美 (zh) (yōuměi)

• Danish: chic, elegant (da)
• Dutch: chic (nl), (inflected) chique (nl)
• Finnish: tyylikäs (fi), elegantti (fi)
• French: chic (fr)
• German: schick (de), chic (de)
• Hungarian: sikkes (hu)
• Ido: chika (io)
• Japanese: シックな (ja) (shikku na), 素敵な (ja) (すてきな, suteki na), 洒落た (shareta)
• Korean: 멋있다 (ko) (meositda)
• Maori: tōrire
• Persian: شیک (fa) (šik)
• Plautdietsch: schekjlich
• Polish: szykowny (pl), elegancki (pl)
• Portuguese: chique (pt)
• Russian: шика́рный (ru) (šikárnyj)
• Spanish: chic (es), elegante (es), shic
• Swedish: chic (sv), stilfull (sv), elegant (sv)
• Turkish: şık (tr)

Noun

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

• 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

Terms derived from chic (noun)

• chiconomics
• ecochic
• geek chic
• heroin chic
• porno chic
• radical chic
• scruffy chic
• shabby chic
• tongue-in-chic

 

Translations

good form, style

• Bulgarian: елегантност (bg) f (elegantnost), изисканост (bg) f (iziskanost), шик (bg) m (šik)
• Dutch: sjiek (nl)
• German: Chic (de) m
• Hungarian: sikk (hu)
• Japanese: 洒落 (share)
• Russian: шик (ru) m (šik)
• Spanish: shic m, chic (es) m

Further reading

• chic on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• list of chics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “‘Chic,’ Its History”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume VIII (5th Series), number 197, London: Published at the office, […] by John Francis, 1877 October 6, pages 261–262.

Etymology 2

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

Noun

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

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃik/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: chic
• Rhymes: -ik

Adjective

chic (comparative chiquer, superlative chicst)

1. chic, elegant

   Synonym: sjiek

Declension

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

• chic de friemel
• chicheid

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃik/, [ˈʃik]
• Rhymes: -ik

Adjective

chic (comparative chicimpi, superlative chicein)

1. chic

Declension

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

• “chic”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

French

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ʃik/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ik
• Homophones: chics, chique, chiquent, chiques

Adjective

chic (plural chic or chics)

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

Usage notes

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

• bon chic bon genre
• très chic

Descendants

Descendants

• → 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

chic m (plural chic)

1. elegance
2. skillfulness; adroitness

Further reading

• “chic”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɪk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪk

Adjective

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

1. Alternative spelling of schick

Usage notes

• 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

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

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

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /çɪc/

Noun

chic

1. Lenited form of cic.

Romanian

Adjective

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

1. Obsolete form of șic.

Declension

		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

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

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

chic m or f (masculine and feminine plural chics)

1. elegant

   Synonym: elegante

Noun

chic m (uncountable)

1. elegance

   Synonym: elegancia

Further reading

• “chic”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Yucatec Maya

Noun

chic

1. Obsolete spelling of chiʼik.