noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Light conversation; casual talk, usually about trivial matters. countable, uncountable

   "He speaks rapidly, with clarity and with obvious enthusiasm. No time is wasted on idle chit-chat."

2. 2
   light informal conversation for social occasions wordnet
3. 3
   Gossip. countable, uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   To engage in small talk, to discuss unimportant matters. colloquial, intransitive
2. 2
   talk socially without exchanging too much information wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

small talkblathercarpcauseriechafferchat

Example

More examples

"Cut the chit-chat and get to work."

Etymology

Reduplication of chat. Compare tittle-tattle, flim-flam, pitter-patter, etc.

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