chinchilla

noun

chin·​chil·​la chin-ˈchi-lə 

1

: either of two small South American rodents (Chinchilla lanigera and C. chinchilla of the family Chinchillidae) of the high Andes that are the size of large squirrels, have very soft pearly-gray fur, and are extensively bred in captivity

also : the fur of a chinchilla

2

: a heavy twilled woolen coating

Illustration of chinchilla

Examples of chinchilla in a Sentence

The collar of the coat is chinchilla.

Recent Examples on the Web

One shopper, Lulu Dinh of Jersey City, N.J., bought her chinchilla coat years ago from 1stDibs. —Dolly Faibyshev, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2025

For many years, Ken raised chinchillas at their rural Litchfield homestead. —Contributed Content, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025

Lucas retains his hold on the lucrative smack market largely because of his ability to not attract attention; his eventual downfall is hastened by the regrettable decision to stand out in a crowd for once and rock a chinchilla fur coat and matching hat at a prizefight. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2024

While our guide talked, viscachas — Peruvian chinchillas — scurried atop the walls and a quartet of wild llamas gathered on one of the lawns. —Monisha Rajesh, Travel + Leisure, 20 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Spanish

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chinchilla

• axilla
• flotilla
• gorilla
• guerilla
• guerrilla
• manilla
• mantilla
• maxilla
• mesilla
• papilla
• priscilla
• scintilla

Kids Definition

chinchilla

noun

chin·​chil·​la chin-ˈchil-ə 

: a South American rodent that is the size of a large squirrel and is widely bred in captivity for its very soft fur of a pearly gray color

also : its fur