chill
/tʃɪl/noun, adjective, verb
chill is spelled C-H-I-L-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chill means “A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chill is chills.
How many letters and syllables are in chill?
| Letters | 5: C-H-I-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,309th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 chill?
Chill appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th 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 chill?
- US /tʃɪl/
- /tʃəl/
- /dʒɪl(lɯ)/
Chill 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-chill.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with chill?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as chill from its last stressed vowel (/ɪl/):
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 chill
- chills plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- more chill comparative
- most chill superlative
- chilling participle, present
- chilled participle, past
- ch'ill
- 'chill
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chill mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.
There was a chill in the air.
- 2
A sudden penetrating sense of cold, especially one that causes a brief trembling nerve response through the body; the trembling response itself; often associated with illness: fevers and chills, or susceptibility to illness.
Close the window or you'll catch a chill.
- 3
An uncomfortable and numbing sense of fear, dread, anxiety, or alarm, often one that is sudden and usually accompanied by a trembling nerve response resembling the body's response to biting cold.
Despite the heat, he felt a chill as he entered the crime scene.
- 4
An iron mould or portion of a mould, serving to cool rapidly, and so to harden, the surface of molten iron brought in contact with it.
- 5
The hardened part of a casting, such as the tread of a carriage wheel.
- 6
A lack of warmth and cordiality; unfriendliness.
- 7
Calmness; equanimity.
- 8
A sense of style; trendiness; savoir faire.
- 9
obsoleteA kind of lamp that burns fish oil.
adjective
- 1
Moderately cold or chilly.
A chill wind was blowing down the street.
- 2
Unwelcoming; not cordial.
Arriving late at the wedding, we were met with a chill reception.
- 3
slangCalm, relaxed, easygoing.
The teacher is really chill and doesn't care if you use your phone during class.
- 4
slang"Cool"; meeting a certain hip standard or garnering the approval of a certain peer group.
That new movie was chill, man.
- 5
slangOkay, not a problem.
Sorry about that. –It's chill.
verb
- 1
To lower the temperature of something; to cool.
Chill before serving.
- 2
To become cold.
In the wind he chilled quickly.
- 3
To harden a metal surface by sudden cooling.
- 4
To become hard by rapid cooling.
- 5
slangTo relax; to lie back; to take things easy.
Chill, man, we've got a whole week to do it; no sense in getting worked up.
- 6
slangTo "hang", hang out; to spend time with another person or group.
Hey, we should chill this weekend.
- 7
slangTo smoke marijuana.
On Friday night do you wanna chill?
- 8
To discourage, depress.
Censorship chills public discourse.
contraction
- 1
obsoleteI will
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chill in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fraicheur , froid , frisson , se relaxer , se détendre, se reposer |
| German | Kälte, Frost, Kühle , Schauer, Kälteschauer , kühler |
| Portuguese | gelo , esfriar, resfriar , fresco, frio |
| Spanish | fresco , enfriar , relajarse , frío , vivalavirgen , enfriarse |
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 chill come from?
From Middle English chele, chile, from Old English ċiele, ċele (“cold; coldness”), from Proto-West Germanic *kali, from Proto-Germanic *kaliz, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to be cold”). Closely related with Dutch kil. Also akin to cool, cold, gel, and congeal, which see.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).