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

Harissa is a North African chili paste that’s, yes, spicy, but also very earthy and smoky. —Caron Golden, Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2025

Everything's bigger in Texas, including the flavor bursting from this traditional Texas chili recipe. —Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2025

Montgomery Steppe underscored her concern about the chemical agent’s potency — pepper spray is measured in Scoville units, the same scale generally used to denote the relative heat of different chili peppers. —Kelly Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Aug. 2025

The new meat sauce has chili flakes, cherry peppers, red bell pepper, pepperoni, red wine and garlic and herbs. —Cheryl V. Jackson, The Courier-Journal, 26 Aug. 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