| 释义 |
‖ chic, n. and a. slang.|ʃik|
[F. chic, of uncertain origin; it has been variously referred to the German schick tact, skill, and viewed as an abbreviation of chicane: see Littré.]
A. n. Artistic skill and dexterity; ‘style’, such as gives an air of superior excellence to a person or thing.
1856Lever Martins of Cro' M. 321 The French have invented a slang word..and by the expression ‘Chic’ have designated a certain property, by which objects assert their undoubted superiority over all their counterfeits. 1882M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. ix. 178 She had no chic. 1887Sir R. H. Roberts In the Shires i. 12 There is an air of chic and high tone about him. 1888Pall Mall G. 6 Sept. 4/2 Her voice is sweet and her delivery artistic, but she is wanting in what the French call ‘chic’—an untranslatable word, denoting an indispensable quality.
B. adj. [Not so used in F.] ‘Stylish’, in the best fashion and best of taste.
1879Print. Trades Jrnl. xxvi. 14 What they term ‘Fashionable Chic Note’. 1880Ouida Moths I. 44 They are all chic, you know. 1887Lady 20 Jan. 38/3 The ladies of New York..think no form of entertainment so chic as a luncheon party.
▸ As the second element in compounds: the style or look associated with a specified lifestyle or subculture (now esp. one which might seem unlikely as a source of inspiration) regarded or appropriated as fashion.
Cf. radical chic n. at radical adj. and n. Special uses 2, punk chic n. and adj. at punk n.1 and adj.2 Compounds 2, heroin chic n. at heroin n. Additions
1961Ironwood (Mich.) Daily Globe 25 July 7/6 (advt.) Deep country chic from our ‘Landed Jantzens’ collection for late summer on. The look: woodsy and casual. 1974Black World June 33/2 Howard University, which is apparently a hotbed of lumpen, field nigger, proletariat, professional street-nigger chic. 1984Sounds 29 Dec. 13/6 Add as an accessory a wooden club (for terrace chic). 1987I. Sinclair White Chappell Scarlet Tracings (1995) i. 13 His skull was shaven, deathrow chic, and was so massive and burdened with unassimilated information that it tipped aggressively forward, almost onto his chest. 1991Elle (U.S. ed.) July 112 With that change comes the fast, free, and uncontrived appeal of biker chic. 1995i-D Nov. 64/1 Our popular culture is shot through with images of junkie chic. 2001Yahoo! Internet Life July 42/4 When major fashion labels started making laptop bags, we knew geek chic was here to stay.
▸ chicness n.
1895Gazette (Stevens Point, Wisconsin) (Electronic text) 11 Dec. There is no equivalent for the French word chic in any other language, and neither is there an equivalent for French *chicness in any other nation. 1945I. Gershwin Alessandro the Wise (song) in Lyrics on Several Occasions (1959) 334 My weakness is chicness—If the lady has no antiqueness. 1999D. Bolger Ladies' Night at Finbar's (2000) 103 Her own neat grey suit and white shirt fitted in here quite well..though her brand of chicness had a more modest Irish stamp. |