different between chic vs cheesy

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French chic (“elegant”), probably from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”), from Middle High German schicken (“to outfit oneself, fit in, arrange appropriately”), causative of Middle High German geschehen, gesch?n (“to happen, rush”), from Old High German giskehan (“to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *skehan? (“to run, move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to run, jump, spring”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk (“hasty”), schikken (“to arrange”), Old English sc?on (“to happen”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sh?k, IPA^(key): /?i?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ik/
• Rhymes: -i?k
• Homophones: sheik, sheikh (one pronunciation)

Adjective

chic (comparative chicer or more chic, superlative chicest or most chic)

1. Elegant, stylish.

Synonyms

Antonyms

• inelegant, unelegant
• unchic
• unfashionable
• unstylish

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

chic (countable and uncountable, plural chics)

1. (chiefly uncountable) Good form; style.
2. (countable) A person with (a particular type of) chic.

Usage notes

The noun chic is very often used with an attributive noun or adjective modifier, indicating the kind of style, such as “boho-chic”, “heroin chic”, “shabby chic”, and so on.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• chic on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• list of chics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “‘Chic,’ Its History”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume VIII (5th Series), issue 197, London: Published at the office, […] by John Francis, 6 October 1877, pages 261–262.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Yucatec Maya chi?ik (“coati; buffoon”).

Noun

chic (plural chics)

1. A kind of ritual buffoon or clown in Yucatec Maya culture.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ik/
• Hyphenation: chic
• Rhymes: -ik

Adjective

chic (comparative chiquer, superlative chicst)

1. chic, elegant

   Synonym: sjiek

Inflection

Derived terms

• chic de friemel
• chicheid

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ik/, [??ik]

Adjective

chic (comparative chicimpi, superlative chicein)

1. chic

Declension

French

Etymology

Probably from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”), from Middle High German schicken (“to outfit oneself, fit in, arrange appropriately”), causative of Middle High German geschehen, gesch?n (“to happen, rush”), from Old High German giskehan (“to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *skehan? (“to run, move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to run, jump, spring”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk (“hasty”), schikken (“to arrange”), Old English sc?on (“to happen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ik/
• Rhymes: -ik
• Homophones: chics, chique, chiquent, chiques

Adjective

chic (plural chic or chics)

1. elegant
2. considerate

Usage notes

Chic is either used invariably, in which case the spelling of the plural is chic, or has the plural chics for both the masculine and the feminine forms.

Derived terms

• bon chic bon genre

Descendants

• ? Dutch: chic, sjiek
• ? English: chic
• ? Finnish: chic
• ? German: schick
• ? Limburgish: sjiek
• ? Polish: szyk
• ? Portuguese: chique
• ? Spanish: chic

Noun

chic m (plural chic)

1. elegance
2. skillfulness; adroitness

Further reading

• “chic” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Adjective

chic (comparative chicer, superlative am chicsten)

1. Alternative spelling of schick

Usage notes

• While the spelling chic is correct for the uninflected adjective, all inflected forms are nonstandard. Correctly, inflected forms must be derived from the preferred spelling schick.

Declension

Further reading

• “chic” in Duden online

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ç?c/

Noun

chic

1. Lenited form of cic.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Adjective

chic (plural chics)

1. elegant

Noun

chic m (uncountable)

1. elegance

Yucatec Maya

Noun

chic

1. Obsolete spelling of chi?ik

English

Etymology

From Middle English chesy, equivalent to cheese +? -y. Doublet of caseic.Compare German käsig (“cheesy”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ch??z?, IPA^(key): /?t?i?zi/
• Rhymes: -i?zi
• Homophone: cheezie

Adjective

cheesy (comparative cheesier, superlative cheesiest)

1. (informal) Overdramatic, excessively emotional or clichéd, trite, contrived.
   • 2010, Michael Clarkson, The Secret Life of Glenn Gould: A Genius in Love, Toronto: ECW Press, Chapter Four, p. 54,

     Another night, when the local entertainers had gone home, Gould went into the empty lounge to play piano with a cheesy string of colored lights overhead and bongo drums at his side.

2. Of or relating to cheese.

   This sandwich is full of cheesy goodness.

3. Resembling or containing cheese.
   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part One, Chapter 8, [1]

     He pushed open the door, and a hideous cheesy smell of sour beer hit him in the face.

   • 2005, Thomas Mann, Joseph and His Brothers, translated by John E. Woods, New York: Everyman's Library, "Joseph in Egypt," Part 3, p. 633,

     He saw skin of every shade, from obsidian black through all the stages of brown and yellow to cheesy white, he even saw yellow hair and azure-colored eyes, faces and garments of every cut—he saw humanity.

4. (informal) Cheap, of poor quality.
   • 1968, Hermann Hesse, Beneath the Wheel, translated by Michael Roloff, Bantam Books, 1970, Chapter One, p. 30,

     He would be apprenticed to some cheesy shop or become a clerk in an office and his entire life he would be one of the ordinary poor people, whom he despised and wanted to surpass.

   • 1977, Allen Ginsberg, Journals: Early Fifties, Early Sixties, edited by Gordon Ball, New York: Grove Press, "June 17, 1952," p. 19,

     I tagged along behind this culturally accomplished beast intelligence in my scuffed handmedown shoes, unpressed illfitting post adolescent suit, dirt ringed shirt and cheesy tie, hair askew and book underarm, perspiring perhaps.
5. (of a smile or grin) Exaggerated and likely to be forced or insincere.

Synonyms

• (overdramatic, excessively emotional or clichéd, trite, contrived, shoddy): cheeseball, corny, tacky

Derived terms

• cheesiness

Translations

Anagrams

• Seyche