VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

chat

verb, noun·Everydayinformal

Last updated

UK/tʃæt/
US/tʃæt/

Meanings

  1. verbintransitiveinformal

    To talk with someone in a relaxed, friendly way about everyday things.

    Grammar: No object; often followed by with, to or about: chat with a neighbor.

    Patterns

    • chat with someone
    • chat to someone
    • chat about something

    We chatted over coffee for an hour.

    She stopped to chat with her neighbor.

    They were chatting about the weekend.

  2. nouncountableinformal

    A relaxed, friendly conversation, often a short one.

    Grammar: Countable: have a chat, a quick chat.

    Patterns

    • have a chat with someone
    • a chat about something

    Let's have a quick chat after the meeting.

    I had a long chat with my grandmother yesterday.

    A friendly chat cheered him up.

  3. nouncountable or uncountablecomputing

    Conversation by typed messages online or in an app, in real time.

    Grammar: Uncountable for the feature (use chat), countable for a conversation (a group chat).

    Patterns

    • in a chat
    • chat with someone online

    She opened the chat to ask a question.

    The class set up a group chat for homework.

    Customer support offers live chat all day.

Word forms

third person singularchats
past tensechatted
past participlechatted
-ing formchatting

Common combinations

have a chat
Can we have a chat later?
chat up
He tried to chat her up at the party.
chat online
They chat online every evening.
group chat
The family shares photos in a group chat.
quick chat
I'll give you a quick chat call tomorrow.
chat show
The actor appeared on a chat show.

Synonyms and how they differ

talk
Talk is a general word and can be serious, whereas chat is light and friendly.
natter
Natter is British and suggests chatting for a long time about nothing in particular.
gossip
Gossip involves talking about other people's private lives, which chat does not require.
converse
Converse is formal and suggests an organized exchange of ideas.

Opposites

argue

Word family

chatty adjective
fond of talking
chatter verb
to talk quickly about unimportant things
chatroom noun
an online space for live typed talk
chatbot noun
software that replies to typed messages

Commonly confused: chat or chart?

chat vs chart

A chart is a diagram or table of information; a chat is a friendly talk.

Practice

Which sentence uses chat in the sense of friendly informal talk?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “chat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words