sb. and a. slang. [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. sb. Artistic skill and dexterity; ‘style,’ such as gives an air of superior excellence to a person or thing.
1856. Lever, 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.
1882. Miss Braddon, Mt. Royal, II. ix. 178. Her gowns were simply perfect—but she had no chic.
1887. Sir R. H. Roberts, In the Shires, i. 12. There is an air of chic and high tone about him.
1888. Pall Mall Gaz., 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.
1879. Print. Trades Jrnl., XXVI. 14. What they term ‘Fashionable Chic Note.’
1880. ‘Ouida,’ Moths, I. 44. They are all chic, you know.
1887. Lady, 20 Jan., 38/3. The ladies of New York … think no form of entertainment so chic as a luncheon party.
