Dictionary

chichi en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃi.ʃi/

Etymology

Borrowed from French chichi.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, mildly) Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way.
   • The sort of real delicious Italian country cooking that is a revelation after so much chichi Italian food dished up in London. 1969 January 22, Daily Telegraph:
   • We drove up the mountain and found the narrow streets chock full of chichi tourists. 1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC:
   • Not since a journalist morphed into Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate has a metamorphosis been so jarring. Of course, there were clues: Michael kicked a puppy in the very second episode, and no self-respecting Elysium so closely resembles a chichi outdoor mall in Pasadena. 2017 September 20, Sophie Gilbert, “The Good Place Is Still TV Heaven”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2018:
   • Going in gangs to those chichi clubs at Maidenhead. 1951, Elizabeth Taylor, A Game of Hide and Seek:
   • But if the mix is no longer about life's essentials, and instead a new wave of chichi cafés, artisan bakers and fancy nail bars—are we right to ask, not how useful is your high street, but how bougie? 2025 August 2, Cathy Hawker, “How bougie is your high street?”, in FT Weekend (House & Home section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:
   • If this was in Cornwall, which it so closely resembles, it would have become the most chichi of gentrified enclaves, colonised by big-name chefs and celebrity regulars. 2019 September 9, Nick Trend, “Why now is the perfect time to rediscover an old favourite across the Channel”, in Daily Telegraph:

Forms

Synonyms

bougie · bourgie

chichi en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈt͡ʃi.t͡ʃi/

Etymology

Borrowed from Mexican Spanish chichi.

Meanings

1. (Latin-America, in-plural, slang) A woman's breast.
   • And later, in Latin Grill Express, Jesus makes sure to compliment her accent, her vocabulary, to express admiration for the way her chichis looked in the last dress all over again, then Sarah asks about his plans for work, what he will do when they all leave. 2014, Stephen May, Wake Up Happy Every Day:
   • [H]e rubbed [his hands] with Bag Balm to help the cuts heal and keep the skin soft, a trick he'd learned from his grandmother, who told him when he was eighteen and getting ready for a date that no woman wanted to feel rough hands scratching up her chichis. 2011, Barbara Samuel, The Girls in the Basement: Celebration Book:

Forms