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chitchat

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Light conversation; casual talk, usually about trivial matters.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

chitchat

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtʃɪttʃæt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Light conversation; casual talk, usually about trivial matters.

  2. Light informal conversation for social occasions

verb

  1. To engage in small talk, to discuss unimportant matters.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Light conversation; casual talk, usually about trivial matters.

Used this way, chitchat is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • confab , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
  • causerie , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

idle chitchatsocial chitchatpolite chitchatsome chitchatfriendly chitchatusual chitchatmaking chitchatpleasant chitchat

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • confab

    A casual conversation.

  • chatter

    The sound of talking.

  • gab

    Light informal conversation for social occasions.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: light conversation

gossipconfabInformalcauserieRare

verb

Sense: to engage in small talk

natterInformalchat

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.