Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Affectedly trendy and fashionable: Describes something or someone that is overly concerned with being stylish in a way that seems unnatural, forced, or pretentious. It implies a focus on superficial trends rather than genuine style.

2. Noun:

   • Elegance by virtue of being fashionable: The quality of being stylish or elegant specifically because something is in fashion.
   • Someone who dresses in a trendy fashionable way: A person, often considered somewhat pretentious, who wears very fashionable, trendy clothes.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The new café was too chichi for my taste, with its gold-plated cutlery and overly complicated menu.
  • She dismissed his chichi manners as insincere and trying too hard to impress.

• Noun (referring to a quality):

  • The chichi of her outfit was undeniable, but it lacked any personal touch.
• Noun (referring to a person):
  • The party was full of chichis who seemed more interested in being photographed than in having a conversation.

Advanced Usage

• The word often carries a critical or slightly mocking tone, suggesting that the trendiness is overdone, artificial, or pretentious.
  • The magazine's chichi advice on "curating your living space" felt completely disconnected from real life.

Variants and Related Words

• Chichi can also be spelled as chi-chi.
• Chic (adj/n): Stylish and fashionable, typically in an elegant and understated way. (Note: "Chic" is generally positive, while "chichi" is negative).
• Trendy (adj): Very fashionable or up-to-date. (Can be neutral or slightly negative, but less so than "chichi").

Synonyms

• Adjective: Pretentious, affected, ostentatious, faddish, showy.
• Noun (for a person): Fashionista, dandy, poseur.

Antonyms

• Adjective: Unpretentious, simple, modest, understated, classic.
• Noun (for a quality): Frumpiness, dowdiness.

Adjective

1. affectedly trendy and fashionable

Noun

1. elegance by virtue of being fashionable
2. someone who dresses in a trendy fashionable way