chillier; chilliest
1
: noticeably cold : chilling
a chilly day
2
: unpleasantly affected by cold
chilly spectators
3
: lacking warmth of feeling : unfriendly
a chilly reception
4
: tending to arouse fear or apprehension
chilly suspicions
Synonyms
Examples of chilly in a Sentence
It's a little chilly outside.
You must be chilly without a coat on.
They gave him a chilly reception.
Recent Examples on the Web
And the chilly breeze on an overcast April day in Detroit is nothing compared to the historical headwinds of playing quarterback in Chicago — and the icy blowback if things don’t go as planned.
—
Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024
The chilly, oxygen-rich environment allows for large sizes, and the impetus to efficiently capitalize on available food, and to avoid being eaten, may pressure life to attain those dimensions.
—Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 25 Apr. 2024
My Martini journey began on a chilly February with my friend the writer Amor Towles.
—Gary Shteyngart, The New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2024
Anyone could see its pulsation in the swelling and ebbing cluster of people who took minutes or hours from a crowded day, who missed meals and forwent their customary amusements to keep a chilly vigil with a mother duck who was bringing forth her young.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2024
Layering up on a chilly morning, Cruise layered an olive corduroy jacket underneath a denim overcoat.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 23 Apr. 2024
But the first two weeks of April brought plenty of chilly showers to much of Central and Southern California, and during our visit, the temperatures hovered in the mid-50s, and the rain waxed and waned between hopeful moments of blue sky followed by black clouds and water falling in curtains.
—Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Workers transferred boxes of mahi-mahi and other seafood from the chilly trailer to a warehouse-like space.
—Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
Bringing cheer and color to chilly, gray skies, more than 1 million migratory birds flocked this past winter to the Kashmir Valley.
—Umer Asif, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Apr. 2024
Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024
The chilly, oxygen-rich environment allows for large sizes, and the impetus to efficiently capitalize on available food, and to avoid being eaten, may pressure life to attain those dimensions.
—Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 25 Apr. 2024
My Martini journey began on a chilly February with my friend the writer Amor Towles.
—Gary Shteyngart, The New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2024
Anyone could see its pulsation in the swelling and ebbing cluster of people who took minutes or hours from a crowded day, who missed meals and forwent their customary amusements to keep a chilly vigil with a mother duck who was bringing forth her young.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2024
Layering up on a chilly morning, Cruise layered an olive corduroy jacket underneath a denim overcoat.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 23 Apr. 2024
But the first two weeks of April brought plenty of chilly showers to much of Central and Southern California, and during our visit, the temperatures hovered in the mid-50s, and the rain waxed and waned between hopeful moments of blue sky followed by black clouds and water falling in curtains.
—Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Workers transferred boxes of mahi-mahi and other seafood from the chilly trailer to a warehouse-like space.
—Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
Bringing cheer and color to chilly, gray skies, more than 1 million migratory birds flocked this past winter to the Kashmir Valley.
—Umer Asif, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chilly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Chilly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chilly. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
chilly
adjective
chillier; chilliest
1
: noticeably cold
2
: unpleasantly affected by cold
3
: not friendly
a chilly response
chilliness
noun
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