chichi

chichi

English

Etymology 1

    Borrowed from French chichi.

    Alternative forms

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈʃi.ʃi/

    Adjective

    chichi (comparative more chichi, superlative most chichi)

    1. (mildly derogatory) Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way.
      Synonyms: bougie, bourgie
      • 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.
      • 2025 August 2, Cathy Hawker, “How bougie is your high street?”, in FT Weekend (House & Home section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:
        But if the mix is no longer about life's essentials, and instead a new wave of chichi cafés, artisan bakers and fancy nail bars—are we right to ask, not how useful is your high street, but how bougie?

    Etymology 2

      Borrowed from Mexican Spanish chichi.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃi.t͡ʃi/
      • Audio (General Australian):(file)

      Noun

      chichi (plural chichis)

      1. (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

      From French chichi.

      Noun

      chichi

      1. fringe; tassel

      Central Huasteca Nahuatl

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/

      Noun

      chichi

      1. dog

      Derived terms

      Central Nahuatl

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/

      Noun

      chichi (animate)

      1. dog

      Derived terms

      References

      • Medina, Genaro. (1999) Curso de Nahuatl, University of Americas, Cholula, Puebla p. 88.

      Chamicuro

      Noun

      chichi

      1. chili

      Classical Nahuatl

      Etymology 1

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/

        Noun

        chichi (absolutive plural chichimeh)

        1. dog (both male and female)
        Synonyms
        Derived terms
        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

          1. (intransitive) To suckle.

          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

          1. dog.

          Eastern Durango Nahuatl

          Noun

          chichi (plural chichim)

          1. dog

          Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

          Etymology

          Cognate to Classical Nahuatl chichi

          Noun

          chichi (plural chichime)

          1. dog

          French

          Etymology

          Probably related to chiche with a sense of "small thing"

          Pronunciation

          Noun

          chichi m (plural chichis)

          1. 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)
          2. 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.
          3. sort of fritter, churro

          Derived terms

          Adjective

          chichi (plural chichis)

          1. 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

          Further reading

          Guerrero Nahuatl

          Pronunciation

          Noun

          chichi

          1. dog

          References

          Japanese

          Romanization

          chichi

          1. Rōmaji transcription of ちち

          Portuguese

          Pronunciation

           

          • Rhymes: -i

          Noun

          chichi m (plural chichis)

          1. European Portuguese standard spelling of xixi
            Tenho de fazer chichi.I need to pee.

          Further reading

          Romanian

          Verb

          a chichi (third-person singular present chichește, past participle chichit) 4th conjugation

          1. obsolete form of chiti

          Conjugation

          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)

          1. (Spain, vulgar) pussy; cunt (vulva)
            Synonyms: coño, chocho, pipí

          Etymology 2

          Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl chichi (suckle).

          Alternative forms

          Noun

          chichi m (plural chichis)

          1. (El Salvador, Panama) baby
          2. (Honduras, colloquial) kid

          Noun

          chichi f (plural chichis)

          1. (colloquial, Mexico, often in the plural) boob (breast)
            Synonyms: chiche, teta

          Etymology 3

          Likely of onomatopoeic origin or alteration of pipí (pee). Cognate to Portuguese xixi.

          Alternative forms

          Noun

          chichi m (plural chichis)

          1. (Latin America, childish) pee

          Further reading

          Western Huasteca Nahuatl

          Pronunciation

          Noun

          chichi

          1. dog

          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.