Silly

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪli/
• Rhymes: -ɪli
• Homophones: Scilly

Origin

Phonetic variant of seely.

From Old English *sǣliġ, "blessed", (attested only in form ġesǣliġ), from Proto-Germanic *sēlīgaz. Cognate with West Frisian sillich, Dutch zalig, German selig. More at sely.

Full definition of silly

Adjective

1. (archaic) Pitiable; deserving of compassion; helpless.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.vi:A silly man, in simple weedes forworne,
  And soild with dust of the long dried way;
  His sandales were with toilesome trauell torne,
  And face all tand with scorching sunny ray ...
• Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)After long storms ... with which my silly bark was tossed sore.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)The silly buckets on the deck.
2. (obsolete) Simple, unsophisticated, ordinary; rustic, ignorant.
• 1633, John Donne, "Sapho to Philænis":For, if we justly call each silly man
  A little island, What shall we call thee than?
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)A fourth man, in a silly habit.
• John Milton (1608-1674)All that did their silly thoughts so busy keep.
3. Foolish, showing a lack of good sense and wisdom; frivolous, trifling.
   I made a very silly mistake.
   The newlyweds called each other silly little nicknames.
4. Irresponsible, showing irresponsible behaviors.
   What a silly kid, he's always getting in trouble.
5. Semiconscious, witless.
   The impact of the ball knocked him silly.
6. (cricket) Of a fielding position, very close to the batsman; closer than short.
7. (pejorative) Simple, not intelligent, unrefined.
   John was prosperous and his helpless, silly father could be of no use to him.
• 1935, George Goodchild, Death on the Centre Court Chapter 1, “Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke...whom the papers are making such a fuss about.”
8. (obsolete) Happy; fortunate; blessed.
9. (obsolete) Harmless; innocent; inoffensive.
• Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)The silly virgin strove him to withstand.
• Robynson (More's Utopia)A silly, innocent hare murdered of a dog.

Derived terms

• sillily (adverb)
• silly season

Antonyms

• ("playful"): pious

Synonyms

• ("playful"): charming

Noun

1. (colloquial) A silly person; a fool.
2. (colloquial) A mistake.

Anagrams

• silyl
• slily
• yills