Chickadee

//ˈt͡ʃɪk.əˌdi// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small passerine bird (songbird) of the genus Parus or the family Paridae.

    "In Walden wood the chickadee / Runs round the pine and maple tree"

  2. 2
    any of various small grey-and-black songbirds of North America wordnet
  3. 3
    Affectionate term of address.

    "I got a date with a cute little chickadee in just a few, an' I don't wanna be late!"

Synonyms

All synonyms
bullydarlingheartlasslovemagpie

Example

More examples

"The finch, chickadee, and warbler eat insects."

Etymology

Apparent onomatopoeia from these birds' calls having a distinctive “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” sound, possibly influenced by chick or chicken.

Related phrases

Acadian chickadeeCarolina chickadeeMexican chickadeeblack-capped chickadeeboreal chickadeechestnut-backed chickadeegrey-headed chickadeemountain chickadee

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.