chili

noun

ˈchi-lē 

variants or less commonly chile or chiefly British chilli

plural chilies also chiles or chilis or chiefly British chillies

1

a

or chili pepper : a hot pepper of any of a group of cultivars (Capsicum annuum annuum group longum) noted for their pungency

b

chiefly British chilli : a pepper whether hot or sweet

2

a

: a thick sauce of meat and chilies

liked to cover her spaghetti with red chili

b

: chili con carne

a bowl of chili

also : a similar dish made without beef

vegetarian chili

seafood chili

Examples of chili in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Travelers can get a modern farm-to-table experience at Valentine with brunch choices like mesquite miso–chocolate chip cookies, tres leches French toast, and hatch chili margaritas, while crab curries and stir fries reminiscent of villages in Thailand can be found at Lom Wong. —Cindy Barks, AFAR Media, 27 Feb. 2025

Her demo class features mantou buns, or fried buns, traditionally served in Singapore with chili crab. —Alissa Fitzgerald, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025

Church’s chili cook-off benefits youth work trip to Appalachia A chili cook-off and dinner is planned from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 26 in Fellowship Hall at Flossmoor Community Church, 2218 Hutchison Road, Flossmoor. —Melinda Moore, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2025

Ever seen a social media post rate a book using a scale of chili pepper emojis? —Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Spanish chile, from Nahuatl chīlli

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing chili

• chili con carne
• chili con queso
• chili dog
• chili powder
• chili sauce
• ghost chili

Rhymes for chili

• billie
• billy
• chilli
• chilly
• dilly
• filly
• frilly
• gillie
• gilly
• hilly
• lily
• philly

Kids Definition

chili

noun

variants also chile or chilli

ˈchil-ē

plural chilies also chiles or chilis or chillies

1

: hot pepper sense 1

2

: chili con carne

Geographical Definition

Chili

geographical name

ˈchi-lē 

—former, especially British name for Chile or for the once poorly defined Andes border region between Chile and Argentina