chichi
English
Etymology 1
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃi.ʃi/
Adjective
chichi (comparative more chichi, superlative most chichi)
- (mildly derogatory) Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way.
- 1951, Elizabeth Taylor, A Game of Hide and Seek:
- Going in gangs to those chichi clubs at Maidenhead.
- 1957, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC:
- We drove up the mountain and found the narrow streets chock full of chichi tourists.
- 1969 January 22, Daily Telegraph:
- The sort of real delicious Italian country cooking that is a revelation after so much chichi Italian food dished up in London.
- 2017 September 20, Sophie Gilbert, “The Good Place Is Still TV Heaven”, in The Atlantic[1]:
- Not since a journalist morphed into Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate has a metamorphosis been so jarring. Of course, there were clues: Michael kicked a puppy in the very second episode, and no self-respecting Elysium so closely resembles a chichi outdoor mall in Pasadena.
- 2019 September 9, Nick Trend, “Why now is the perfect time to rediscover an old favourite across the Channel”, in Daily Telegraph[2]:
- If this was in Cornwall, which it so closely resembles, it would have become the most chichi of gentrified enclaves, colonised by big-name chefs and celebrity regulars.
Etymology 2
From Mexican Spanish chichi.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃi.t͡ʃi/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
chichi (plural chichis)
- (slang, Latin America, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
- 2011, Barbara Samuel, The Girls in the Basement: Celebration Book:
- [H]e rubbed [his hands] with Bag Balm to help the cuts heal and keep the skin soft, a trick he'd learned from his grandmother, who told him when he was eighteen and getting ready for a date that no woman wanted to feel rough hands scratching up her chichis.
- 2014, Stephen May, Wake Up Happy Every Day:
- And later, in Latin Grill Express, Jesus makes sure to compliment her accent, her vocabulary, to express admiration for the way her chichis looked in the last dress all over again, then Sarah asks about his plans for work, what he will do when they all leave.
Antillean Creole
Etymology
Noun
chichi
Central Huasteca Nahuatl
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/
Noun
chichi
Central Nahuatl
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/
Noun
chichi (animate)
Derived terms
- Amecameca
- techichi
- pilchichi
- Milpa Alta
- techichi
- [Term?]
- pilcoyotl
- Nanacamilpa
- koyochichi
- Texcoco
- koyochichi
References
- Medina, Genaro. (1999) Curso de Nahuatl, University of Americas, Cholula, Puebla p. 88.
Chamicuro
Noun
chichi
Classical Nahuatl
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/
Noun
chichi (absolutive plural chichimeh)
- dog (both male and female)
- 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 194v:
- Perro o perra. chichi. ytzcuintli.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 95r. col. 2:
- 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 19v. col. 2:
- Chichi.perro,o perra.
(Chichi. a dog or a bitch.)- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Synonyms
Derived terms
- chichiconetl
- chichiton
- chichitōn
- chichiyōtl
- tlālchichi
Descendants
- Spanish: chichi
See also
- chihchi
References
- Andrews, J. Richard (2003) Workbook for Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, rev. ed. edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, page 215
- Karttunen, Frances (1983) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 47
- Lockhart, James (2001) Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts, Stanford: Stanford University Press, page 214
Etymology 2
Alternative forms
- chi̱chi (Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tʃiːtʃi/ (Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan)
Verb
chichi
- (intransitive) To suckle.
- 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 162r:
- Mamar. ni,chichi.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Related terms
References
- Karttunen, Frances (1983) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 47
- Wolgemuth, Carl et al. (2002) Diccionario náhuatl de los municipios de Mecayapan y Tatahuicapan de Juárez, Veracruz[3], 2nd electronic edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 38, 244
Coatepec Nahuatl
Noun
chichi
- dog.
Eastern Durango Nahuatl
Noun
chichi (plural chichim)
Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl
Etymology
Cognate to Classical Nahuatl chichi
Noun
chichi (plural chichime)
- dog.
French
Etymology
Probably related to chiche with a sense of "small thing"
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃi.ʃi/
Audio: (file)
Noun
chichi m (plural chichis)
- affected manners, demanding behaviour
- Faire des chichis à propos de rien.
- to make a fuss about nothing
- 2014, Édouard Louis, En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule [The End of Eddy], Le Seuil:
- D'une manière générale — pas seulement mon père —, les hommes n'aimaient pas ça. Ils en faisaient un principe Moi je fais pas de chichis à prendre de médicaments tout le temps, je suis pas une lopette.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- something showy
- 1948, Blaise Cendrars, Bourlinguer:
- […] les Américains, qui s'apprêtent à prendre la succession de la civilisation, n'en sont encore au stade que du faux luxe et du brillant et du chichi des empaquetages en papier de cellophane.
- [...] the Americans, who are about to take over civilization, are still only at the stage of false luxury and the brilliance and showiness of cellophane wrappers.
- sort of fritter, churro
Derived terms
Adjective
chichi (plural chichis)
- chichi
- 1911, Sacha Guitry, Le Veilleur de nuit:
- Je ne connais pas une fille plus apprêtée, plus chichi, plus maniérée.
- I don't know any girl more dolled-up, more chichi, more mannered.
Descendants
- → English: chichi
Further reading
- “chichi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Guerrero Nahuatl
Pronunciation
Noun
chichi
References
- Aburto M., Pascual (2003); Tiuelis titlajtlajtos Náhuatl Puede hablar el Náhuatl, Náhuatl de Guerrero y español, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano AC (SIL); ILV segunda edición, Tlalpan, Mexico City. Mexico.
Japanese
Romanization
chichi
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ʃiˈʃi/
- (Northern Portugal) IPA(key): /t͡ʃiˈt͡ʃi/
- Rhymes: -i
Noun
chichi m (plural chichis)
- European Portuguese standard spelling of xixi
- Tenho de fazer chichi. ― I need to pee.
Related terms
Further reading
- “chichi”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
- “chichi”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
Romanian
Verb
a chichi (third-person singular present chichește, past participle chichit) 4th conjugation
- obsolete form of chiti
Conjugation
infinitive | a chichi | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gerund | chichind | ||||||
past participle | chichit | ||||||
number | singular | plural | |||||
person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
indicative | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele | |
present | chichesc | chichești | chichește | chichim | chichiți | chichesc | |
imperfect | chicheam | chicheai | chichea | chicheam | chicheați | chicheau | |
simple perfect | chichii | chichiși | chichi | chichirăm | chichirăți | chichiră | |
pluperfect | chichisem | chichiseși | chichise | chichiserăm | chichiserăți | chichiseră | |
subjunctive | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele | |
present | să chichesc | să chichești | să chichească | să chichim | să chichiți | să chichească | |
imperative | — | tu | — | — | voi | — | |
affirmative | chichește | chichiți | |||||
negative | nu chichi | nu chichiți |
References
- chichi in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃit͡ʃi/ [ˈt͡ʃi.t͡ʃi]
- Rhymes: -itʃi
- Syllabification: chi‧chi
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
chichi m (plural chichis)
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl chichi (“suckle”).
Alternative forms
Noun
chichi m (plural chichis)
- (El Salvador, Panama) baby
- (Honduras, colloquial) kid
Noun
chichi f (plural chichis)
Etymology 3
Likely of onomatopoeic origin or alteration of pipí (“pee”). Cognate to Portuguese xixi.
Alternative forms
Noun
chichi m (plural chichis)
Further reading
- “chichi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
- “chichi”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
Western Huasteca Nahuatl
Pronunciation
Noun
chichi
References
- Van't Hooft, Anuschka (2006); Lengua náhuatl y Cultura de la Huasteca, Coordinación de ciencias sociales y humanidades de la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí City, Mexico.