chilling

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈtʃɪlɪŋ/ UK /ˈtʃɪlɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like shilling /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/

Meanings

1

adj
provoking fear or apprehension

His chilling confession silenced the entire courtroom.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · provoking fear or apprehension frightening terrifying alarming disturbing horrifyingspine-tinglingeerie

Opposites

reassuring comforting heartening

Word family

Related forms chill chilled chilly

Etymology

From chill + -ing, in the figurative sense 'causing a chill of fear'. Chill is from Old English ciele ('cold, frost'), from Proto-Germanic *kaliz.

ciele Old English *kaliz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# chilling

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈtʃɪlɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtʃɪlɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. provoking fear or apprehension

## Examples
- His chilling confession silenced the entire courtroom.

## Synonyms
- frightening
- terrifying
- alarming
- disturbing
- horrifying
- spine-tingling
- eerie

## Antonyms
- reassuring
- comforting
- heartening

## Related Forms
- chill
- chilled
- chilly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ciele
- Root: *kaliz

## Etymology
From chill + -ing, in the figurative sense 'causing a chill of fear'. Chill is from Old English ciele ('cold, frost'), from Proto-Germanic *kaliz.

## AI Etymology
Chilling is from chill + -ing, in the figurative sense 'causing a chill of fear'. Chill is from Old English ciele ('cold, frost'), from Proto-Germanic *kaliz. Important recorded forms include ciele (Old English) and *kaliz (Proto-Germanic). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers provoking fear or apprehension. The wider family includes related words such as chill, chilled, and chilly.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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