chitchat
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
- chitchatty adjective
Etymology
Origin of chitchat
First recorded in 1700–10; gradational compound based on chat
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Spend enough time around cybersecurity types, and questions like the one above might feel like lighthearted chitchat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
The school system’s chief financial officer, for example, doesn’t want to chitchat and won’t share data until he knows what you’ll do with it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 1, 2025
“We’re getting exercise, but also being able to chitchat afterwards and meet more book lovers.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2025
I knocked and walked into the room, starting with the usual idle chitchat.
From Slate • Aug. 19, 2025
“Is Lexie still doing theatre?” she asked, and for the rest of the meal they made superficial chitchat about the common denominators of their life: children, traffic, the weather.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
