chit-chat
"chit-chat" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chit-chat” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Light conversation; casual talk, usually about trivial matters.
Corpus desk
Index EN-chit-chat · chit-chat · English
chit-chat · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chit-chat |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “chit-chat” in English
Rare enough to double-check
chit-chat is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for chit-chat, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Reduplication of chat. Compare tittle-tattle, flim-flam, pitter-patter, etc. The correct English form is chit-chat, spelled C-H-I-T---C-H-A-T.
Definition
- 1Light conversation; casual talk, usually about trivial matters.
- 2Gossip.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how chit-chat appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He speaks rapidly, with clarity and with obvious enthusiasm. No time is wasted on idle chit-chat.
“What are you doing down here, father?” “Just having a bit of chitchat with your curious creation.” “Right.”
Etymology
Reduplication of chat. Compare tittle-tattle, flim-flam, pitter-patter, etc.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.