chalet

noun

cha·​let sha-ˈlā 

ˈsha-(ˌ)lā

1

: a remote herdsman's hut in the Alps

2

a

: a Swiss dwelling with unconcealed structural members and a wide overhang at the front and sides

b

: a cottage or house in chalet style

Illustration of chalet

• chalet 2a

Synonyms

• cottage
• cabin

Examples of chalet in a Sentence

We stayed overnight at a ski chalet.

a mountain chalet for weekend getaways

Recent Examples on the Web

Then a rental company pointed him to a seven-story chalet built into the side of a mountain in Deer Valley, with five of the floors underground. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 19 Oct. 2025

Following renovations, Kasbah Tamadot opened in 2005 as a luxury hotel in Branson’s Virgin Limited Edition Collections—which also includes a safari lodge in East Africa and a Swiss chalet. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 10 Oct. 2025

Along the lake’s edge, the freestanding chalets, each with a wood-burning fireplace, deep soaking tub, and butler service, are ideal for large groups or families. —Siobhan Reid, Travel + Leisure, 4 Oct. 2025

Someone under 21 could also go into a number of other establishments with alcohol licenses, such as a restaurant, axe-throwing facility, golf course or club house, movie theater, painting studio, ski chalet or stadium. —Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 27 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, borrowed from Franco-Provençal of Switzerland (and adjacent Alpine regions of France and Italy) tsalẹ̀, tchalè "cabin in upland summer pastures used as a residence and for processing milk into butter and cheese, pasture in the vicinity of such a structure," from tsal-, tchal-, stem probably meaning "shelter" seen as an underived noun in Old Occitan cala "cove, inlet" (also in Spanish & Catalan, and as a loanword from Spanish in Italian & Portuguese, probably a borrowing from a western Mediterranean substratal language) + -ẹ̀, -è -et entry 1

Note: A display of the variants found in Franco-Provençal of Switzerland can be seen in Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande (tome 3, p. 270). The word occurs as chaletus in Latin documents from present-day Vaud canton beginning in the fourteenth century. As chalet the word is first attested in metropolitan French in 1723; it received wide circulation through its use in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse (1761).

First Known Use

1782, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chalet

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

chalet

noun

cha·​let sha-ˈlā 

ˈshal-ˌā

1

: a herdsman's hut in the Alps away from a town or village

2

a

: a Swiss dwelling with a roof that sticks far out past the walls

b

: a cottage built to look like a chalet