# chill

/ˈtʃɪɫ/ (US) · /tʃˈɪl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/chill
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. relaxed or easygoing

adjective · CEFR B1 · Informal · Slang

relaxed, calm, or not worried about anything.

For teachers: denoting a relaxed, easygoing, or calm disposition or atmosphere.

- Our new manager is very chill and doesn't mind if we take long breaks.
- The atmosphere at the beach house was incredibly chill, with everyone content to read or nap without any fixed schedule.

### 2. moderately cold

adjective · CEFR A2

feeling uncomfortably cold.

For teachers: characterised by a moderate but penetrating coldness.

- There was a chill wind blowing off the lake this morning.
- The morning air turned chill as the sun dipped behind the mountain range, forcing the hikers to reach for their jackets.

### 3. a cold feeling

noun · CEFR A2

a slight feeling of cold, or a cold feeling you get when you are sick.

For teachers: a moderate coldness of the atmosphere or a shivering sensation caused by cold or illness.

- I woke up with a fever and a nasty chill.
- A sudden chill in the air signaled the arrival of the autumn front, catching the city dwellers unprepared in their summer attire.

### 4. a feeling of fear

noun · CEFR B2 · Literary

a sudden feeling of fear or dread.

For teachers: a sudden sensation of fear, anxiety, or alarm, often accompanied by shivering.

- A chill went down her spine when she heard the door creak open.
- The ghost story sent a visible chill through the audience, leaving a heavy silence in the room long after the narrator finished.

### 5. to cool down

verb · CEFR A2

to make something cold, usually food or drink.

For teachers: to lower the temperature of something, typically by refrigeration.

- You should chill the white wine for an hour before serving it.
- The recipe requires you to chill the dough thoroughly to ensure the pastry remains flaky during the baking process.

### 6. to relax

verb · CEFR B1 · Informal · Slang

to spend time relaxing or doing nothing special.

For teachers: to spend time relaxing or socialising in a low-pressure environment; often used as 'chill out'.

- We spent the whole weekend just chilling at home and watching movies.
- After the final exams were over, the students spent the afternoon chilling by the river to decompress from the stress of the week.

### 7. to discourage

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal

to make someone feel less excited or to stop a process.

For teachers: to discourage or dampen enthusiasm; to have a restrictive effect on an activity.

- The high interest rates might chill the housing market this year.
- The new regulations had a chilling effect on investment, causing several major firms to withdraw their proposals from the region.

## Examples

- We had a very chill evening watching movies.
- The new manager is surprisingly chill about deadlines as long as the work is high quality.
- While the rest of the office was panicking about the server migration, the lead developer remained remarkably chill, methodically checking every line of code.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.