chic

See also: Chic

English

WOTD – 8 July 2018

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French chic (“elegant”). See the French section, below, for more.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) enPR: shēk, IPA^(key): /ʃiːk/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ʃik/
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -iːk
Homophones: sheik, sheikh (one pronunciation)

Adjective

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

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 977517776, 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 732224722, 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 939238636, 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 177729571, 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 423870134, 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
superchic
très chic
uberchic
ultrachic
unchic
unchicly

Translations

elegant, stylish — See also translations at elegant,‎ stylish

Arabic: أَنِيق‎ (ʾanīq)
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 (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)
Swedish: chic (sv), stilfull (sv), elegant (sv)
Turkish: şık (tr)

Noun

chic (countable and uncountable, plural chics)

(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 177729571, 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.
- 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 […]
(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 and 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)

Etymology 2

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

Noun

chic (plural chics)

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, second 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)

chic, elegant
Synonym: sjiek

Inflection

Inflection 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]

Adjective

chic (comparative chicimpi, superlative chicein)

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
accusative	gen.	chicin	chicit
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
instructive		—	chicein
abessive		chicittä	chiceittä
comitative		—	chiceine

Possessive forms of chic (type risti)
Rare. Only used with substantive adjectives.
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	chicini	chicimme
2nd person	chicisi	chicinne
3rd person	chicinsä

French

Etymology

Probably from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”), from Middle High German schicken (“to outfit oneself, fit in, arrange appropriately”), causative of Middle High German geschehen, geschēn (“to happen, rush”), from Old High German giskehan (“to happen”), from Proto-West Germanic *skehan, from Proto-Germanic *skehaną (“to run, move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to run, jump, spring”).

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)

elegant, fancy, stylish, posh, swank
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

→ Dutch: chic, sjiek
→ English: chic
→ Finnish: chic
→ German: schick
→ Greek: σικ (sik)
→ Limburgish: sjiek
→ Polish: szyk
→ Portuguese: chique
→ Spanish: chic
→ Turkish: şık

Noun

chic m (plural chic)

elegance
skillfulness; adroitness

German

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʃɪk/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ɪk

Adjective

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

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
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
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
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
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
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
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

Irish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /çɪc/

Noun

chic

Lenited form of cic.

Romanian

Adjective

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

Obsolete form of șic.

Declension

Declension of chic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	chic		chică	chici	chice
nominative/ accusative	definite	chicul		chica	chicii	chicele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	chic		chice	chici	chice
genitive/ dative	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.

Adjective

chic (plural chics)

elegant

Noun

chic m (uncountable)

elegance

Yucatec Maya

Noun

chic

Obsolete spelling of chiʼik

chic

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Adjective

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Usage notes

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Etymology 2

Noun

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Inflection

Derived terms

Finnish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Usage notes

Derived terms

Descendants

Noun

Further reading

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

Usage notes

Declension

Further reading

Irish

Pronunciation

Noun

Romanian

Adjective

Declension

References

Spanish

Etymology

Adjective

Noun

Further reading

Yucatec Maya

Noun