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PlainSpell

chat

/ˈt͡ʃæt/verb, noun, interjection

chat is spelled C-H-A-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, chat means “To be engaged in informal conversation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in chat?

Letters4: C-H-A-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing37 times per million words; the 2,618th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is chat?

Chat appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce chat?

  • US /ˈt͡ʃæt/

Chat has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chat.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_chat.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with chat?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as chat from its last stressed vowel (/æt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: cath, tach.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of chat

  • chats present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • chatting participle, present
  • chatted participle, past
  • chatt

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does chat mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To be engaged in informal conversation.

    She chatted with her friend in the cafe.

  2. 2

    To talk a while in a friendly manner.

    I met my old friend in the street, so we chatted for a while.

  3. 3

    To talk of; to discuss.

    They chatted politics for a while.

  4. 4

    informalslangTo chat shit (to speak nonsense, to lie).

    Don't listen to me, I'm chatting.

  5. 5

    To exchange text or voice messages in real time through a computer network such as a social media chat room or messaging application (as if having a face-to-face conversation instead of SMS or writing emails or letters).

    Do you want to chat online later?

noun

  1. 1

    Informal conversation.

    It'd be cool to meet up again soon and have a quick chat.

  2. 2

    An exchange of text or voice messages in real time through a computer network, resembling a face-to-face conversation.

    Internet Relay Chat

  3. 3

    A chat room, especially (in later use) one accompanying a videoconference or live stream.

    "Type yes in (the) chat if you can hear me."

  4. 4

    The entirety of users, viewed collectively, in a chat room, especially the chat room accompanying a live stream.

    The chat just made a joke about my poor skillz.

  5. 5

    nonstandardFamiliar term of address for users on social media other than a chat room, as in "guys."

  6. 6

    Any of various small Old World passerine birds in the muscicapid tribe Saxicolini or subfamily Saxicolinae that feed on insects.

  7. 7

    Any of several small Australian honeyeaters in the genus Epthianura.

  8. 8

    A small potato, such as is given to swine.

  9. 9

    Mining waste from lead and zinc mines.

  10. 10

    AustraliaUKslangA louse (small, parasitic insect).

    'Do officers have chats, then, the same as us?' 'Not the same, no. The chats they got is bigger and better, with pips on their shoulders and Sam Browne belts.'

  11. 11

    Alternative form of chaat.

interjection

  1. 1

    informalUsed to introduce a question, to address all the other people present.

    Chat, is this real?

noun

as CHAT
  1. 1

    Acronym of cultural-historical activity theory.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Chat in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchjaser, placoter, bavarder, papoter (be engaged in informal conversation), discuter, parler (talk more than a few words)
Germansich unterhalten, plaudern, schwatzen, klönen (be engaged in informal conversation), Schwatz, Geplauder (informal conversation)
Portuguesepapear, bater papo, conversar, teclar (be engaged in informal conversation), papo, conversa (informal conversation)
Spanishcharlar, platicar, chamuyar (be engaged in informal conversation), cháchara, charla (informal conversation), chatear (exchange messages in real time)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does chat come from?

Clipping of chatter. The bird sense refers to the sound of its call.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after chat