chichi

See also: chichí, chíchí, chīchī, Chichi, chi chi, and chi-chi

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

French chichibor.

English chichi

Borrowed from French chichi.

Alternative forms

• chi-chi, chi chi, shi-shi, shi shi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃi.ʃi/

Adjective

chichi (comparative more chichi, superlative most chichi)

1. (mildly derogatory) Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way.

   Synonyms: bougie, bourgie

   • 1951, Elizabeth Taylor, A Game of Hide and Seek:

     Going in gangs to those chichi clubs at Maidenhead.

   • 1957, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC:

     We drove up the mountain and found the narrow streets chock full of chichi tourists.

   • 1969 January 22, Daily Telegraph:

     The sort of real delicious Italian country cooking that is a revelation after so much chichi Italian food dished up in London.

   • 2017 September 20, Sophie Gilbert, “The Good Place Is Still TV Heaven”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2019 September 9, Nick Trend, “Why now is the perfect time to rediscover an old favourite across the Channel”, in Daily Telegraph‎^[2]:

     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.

   • 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:

     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?

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Mexican Spanish chichibor.

English chichi

Borrowed from Mexican Spanish chichi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃi.t͡ʃi/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

chichi (plural chichis)

1. (slang, Latin America, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
   • 2011, Barbara Samuel, The Girls in the Basement: Celebration Book:

     [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.

   • 2014, Stephen May, Wake Up Happy Every Day:

     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.

Antillean Creole

Etymology

From French chichi.

Noun

chichi

1. fringe; tassel

Central Huasteca Nahuatl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/

Noun

chichi

1. dog

Derived terms

• koachichi

Central Nahuatl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/

Noun

chichi (animate)

1. dog

Derived terms

Derived terms

• Amecameca
• techichi
• pilchichi
• Milpa Alta
• techichi
• [Term?]
• pilcoyotl
• Nanacamilpa
• koyochichi
• Texcoco
• koyochichi

References

• Medina, Genaro. (1999) Curso de Nahuatl, University of Americas, Cholula, Puebla p. 88.

Chamicuro

Noun

chichi

1. chili

Classical Nahuatl

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʃi.tʃi/

Noun

chichi (absolutive plural chichimeh)

1. dog (both male and female)
   • 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 194v:

     Perro o perra. chichi. ytzcuintli.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 95r. col. 2:

     Perro o perra. chichi. ytzcuintli.
     (Dog or bitch. chichi. ytzcuintli.)

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 19v. col. 2:

     Chichi.perro,o perra.
     (Chichi. a dog or a bitch.)

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

• itzcuintli

Derived terms

• chichiconetl
• chichitōn
• chichiyōtl
• tlālchichi

Descendants

• → Spanish: chichi

See also

• chihchi

References

• Andrews, J. Richard (2003), Workbook for Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, rev. ed. edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, page 215
• Karttunen, Frances (1983), An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 47
• Lockhart, James (2001), Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts, Stanford: Stanford University Press, page 214

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• chi̱chi (Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃiːtʃi/ (Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan)

Verb

chichi

1. (intransitive) To suckle.
   • 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 162r:

     Mamar. ni,chichi.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Related terms

• chichihualli

References

• Karttunen, Frances (1983), An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 47
• Wolgemuth, Carl et al. (2002), Diccionario náhuatl de los municipios de Mecayapan y Tatahuicapan de Juárez, Veracruz‎^[3], 2nd electronic edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 38, 244

Coatepec Nahuatl

Noun

chichi

1. dog.

Eastern Durango Nahuatl

Noun

chichi (plural chichim)

1. dog

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Etymology

Cognate to Classical Nahuatl chichi

Noun

chichi (plural chichime)

1. dog

French

Etymology

Probably related to chiche with a sense of "small thing"

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃi.ʃi/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

chichi m (plural chichis)

1. affected manners, demanding behaviour

   Faire des chichis à propos de rien.

   to make a fuss about nothing

   • 2014, Édouard Louis, En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule [The End of Eddy], Le Seuil:

     D'une manière générale — pas seulement mon père —, les hommes n'aimaient pas ça. Ils en faisaient un principe Moi je fais pas de chichis à prendre de médicaments tout le temps, je suis pas une lopette.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. something showy
   • 1948, Blaise Cendrars, Bourlinguer:

     […] les Américains, qui s'apprêtent à prendre la succession de la civilisation, n'en sont encore au stade que du faux luxe et du brillant et du chichi des empaquetages en papier de cellophane.

     [...] the Americans, who are about to take over civilization, are still only at the stage of false luxury and the brilliance and showiness of cellophane wrappers.

3. sort of fritter, churro

Derived terms

• chichiteux

Adjective

chichi (plural chichis)

1. chichi
   • 1911, Sacha Guitry, Le Veilleur de nuit:

     Je ne connais pas une fille plus apprêtée, plus chichi, plus maniérée.

     I don't know any girl more dolled-up, more chichi, more mannered.

Descendants

• → English: chichi

Further reading

• “chichi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Guerrero Nahuatl

Noun

chichi

1. dog

References

• Aburto M., Pascual (2003); Tiuelis titlajtlajtos Náhuatl Puede hablar el Náhuatl, Náhuatl de Guerrero y español, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano AC (SIL); ILV segunda edición, Tlalpan, Mexico City. Mexico.

Japanese

Romanization

chichi

1. Rōmaji transcription of ちち

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʃiˈʃi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʃiˈʃi/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃiˈt͡ʃi/

• Rhymes: -i

Noun

chichi m (plural chichis)

1. European Portuguese standard spelling of xixi

   Tenho de fazer chichi. ― I need to pee.

Related terms

• chichizinho

Further reading

• “chichi”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “chichi”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “chichi”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Verb

a chichi (third-person singular present chichește, past participle chichit) 4th conjugation

1. obsolete form of chiti

Conjugation

    conjugation of chichi (fourth conjugation, -esc- infix)

infinitive			a chichi
gerund			chichind
past participle			chichit
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	chichesc	chichești	chichește	chichim	chichiți	chichesc
	imperfect	chicheam	chicheai	chichea	chicheam	chicheați	chicheau
	simple perfect	chichii	chichiși	chichi	chichirăm	chichirăți	chichiră
	pluperfect	chichisem	chichiseși	chichise	chichiserăm	chichiserăți	chichiseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să chichesc	să chichești	să chichească	să chichim	să chichiți	să chichească
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		chichește			chichiți
	negative		nu chichi			nu chichiți

References

• chichi in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃit͡ʃi/ [ˈt͡ʃi.t͡ʃi]
• Rhymes: -itʃi
• Syllabification: chi‧chi

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

chichi m (plural chichis)

1. (Spain, vulgar) pussy; cunt (vulva)

   Synonyms: coño, chocho, pipí

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl chichi (“suckle”).

Alternative forms

• chichí

Noun

chichi m (plural chichis)

1. (El Salvador, Panama) baby
2. (Honduras, colloquial) kid

Noun

chichi f (plural chichis)

1. (colloquial, Mexico, often in the plural) boob (breast)

   Synonyms: chiche, teta

Etymology 3

Likely of onomatopoeic origin or alteration of pipí (“pee”). Cognate to Portuguese xixi.

Alternative forms

• chichí

Noun

chichi m (plural chichis)

1. (Latin America, childish) pee

Further reading

• “chichi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “chichi”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

Western Huasteca Nahuatl

Noun

chichi

1. dog

References

• Van't Hooft, Anuschka (2006); Lengua náhuatl y Cultura de la Huasteca, Coordinación de ciencias sociales y humanidades de la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí City, Mexico.