Chilly

//ˈt͡ʃɪli// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1
Alternative spelling of chili. alt-of, alternative
"Capsicum—the dried ripe fruit of Capsicum fastigiatum—is also known as Chilly pepper, Chillies, Guinea, or pod pepper, and is chiefly brought from Zanzibar. The several varieties differ in shape and size, are of a red colour, and filled with numerous red-brown, pungent seeds."
2
very hot and finely tapering pepper of special pungency wordnet

Adjective

1
Cold enough to cause discomfort.
"[…] The Aſparagus grew; but in three or four Years complained, by coming up ſmall; occaſioned by the chilly Effluvia, that proceeded from the Water lodg'd at the bottom of the Pit; […]"
2
Feeling uncomfortably cold.
"I’m getting rather chilly over here – could you shut the window please?"
3
Distant and cool; unfriendly. figuratively
"She gave me a chilly look when I made the suggestion."

Adjective

1
not characterized by emotion wordnet
2
lacking warmth of feeling wordnet
3
appreciably or disagreeably cold wordnet

Synonyms

unemotional unfriendly above all that affectless aguey aguish

Antonyms

Example

"Feeling chilly, I turned on the heater."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From chill + -y. Cognate with Swedish kylig (“chilly”), Norwegian kjølig (“chilly”).

Etymology 2

See chili.

Related phrases

chilly bin chilly climate lay chilly cold term cool cold cool temperature kinda cold mexican food pretty cold shivery cold slightly cold very cold

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