chalet

C3H4A1L1E1T1
/ˈʃæleɪ/

noun

An alpine style of wooden building with a sloping roof and overhanging eaves.

Less commonFirst used late 18th c.Scrabble 11Word of the Day · Sep 19, 2025

Meanings

nounchalet (plural chalets)

plural chalets · alternative châlet

  1. An alpine style of wooden building with a sloping roof and overhanging eaves.First known use late 18th c.

    Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.

    2013 January 28, Brian Hayes, “Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 62
    1 more example

    “I know that Perdita spends the offseason at her chalet in Gstaad, and that her mansion would be empty. And the perfect place to teach you all a valuable lesson about the importance of being nice to people who maybe aren't part of your core group but who have done a lot of nice things for you and yet you still treat them like shit.”

    2023 August 31, William Meny & Paul Simms, “A Weekend at Morrigan Manor” (17:20 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 9, spoken by The Guide (Kristen Schaal)
  2. SingaporeA recreational lodge or small house within the grounds of a resort or country club dedicated to the uniformed services, used for events, staycations and other social gatherings.

Origin

  1. Franco-Provençalçhalè“herdsman's hut in the mountains”
  2. Frenchchalet
  3. Englishchalet

Borrowed from French chalet, from Franco-Provençal çhalè (“herdsman's hut in the mountains”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic شاليه
  • شاليه (ŝālē)type of wooden house
Chinese Mandarin 小屋
  • 小屋 (xiǎowū)type of wooden house
Czech chata
  • chatatype of wooden house
Esperanto ĉaledo
  • ĉaledotype of wooden house
Finnish alppimaja, alppitalo
  • alppimajatype of wooden house
  • alppitalotype of wooden house
French chalet
  • chalettype of wooden house
German Chalet
  • Chalettype of wooden house
Hungarian faház, bungaló
  • faháztype of wooden house
  • bungalótype of wooden house
  • nyaralótype of wooden house
  • nyári laktype of wooden house
  • alpesi ház (ikó)type of wooden house
Italian chalet
  • chalettype of wooden house
Japanese シャレー
  • シャレー (sharē)type of wooden house
Malay chalet
  • chalettype of wooden house
Polish koliba, chata
  • kolibatype of wooden house
  • chatatype of wooden house
Portuguese chalé
  • chalétype of wooden house
Romanian cabană
  • cabanătype of wooden house
Russian шале́
  • шале́ (šalé)type of wooden house
Slovak koliba
  • kolibatype of wooden house
Spanish chalé, chalet
  • chalétype of wooden house
  • chalettype of wooden house
Turkish şale
  • şaletype of wooden house

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with chalet

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

chalet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chalet

MLA

“chalet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chalet. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chalet,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chalet.

Source: chalet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.