silly
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
Etymology: From Middle English seely, sēlī, from Old English sǣliġ, ġesǣliġ (“lucky, fortunate”), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg, from *sāli; equivalent to seel (“happiness, bliss”) + -y. Doublet of Seelie.
The semantic evolution is “lucky” to “innocent” to “naive” to “foolish”. Compare the similar evolution of daft (originally meaning “accommodating”), and almost the reverse with nice (originally meaning “ignorant”).
Base: seel
Affixes: -y
Inflected forms:
form: sillier
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: silliest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: sely
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: seely
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: sillies
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
pos: adj
examples: They were laughing at a silly joke.
silly grin
This is the silliest stuffe, that euer I heard.
I remember, before the Dwarf left the Queen, he followed us one day into thoſe gardens, and my Nurſe having ſet me down, he and I being cloſe together, near ſome Dwarf Apple trees, I muſt need ſhew my Wit, by a ſilly Alluſion between him and the Trees, which happens to hold in their Language as it doth in ours.
Well sir, I have a silly walk and I'd like to obtain a Government grant to help me develop it.
gloss: Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
pos: adj
examples: He cannot achieve celebrity by covering himself with diamonds... or by giving a silly price for a hack.
gloss: Blessed
pos: adj
tags: Scotland
obsolete
examples: The sylyman lay and herde, / And hys wyf answerd.
The King of Spaine is counted very ſtrong, and the Pope is counted very ſtrong, because they haue a ſtrong hand to perſecute the ſilly ones of leſus Chriſt.
gloss: Blessed
pos: adj
tags: Scotland
obsolete
examples: ... thrie Saturdayes befor Lambas and thrie efter called the six silie Saturdayes.
gloss: Pitiful, inspiring compassion, particularly
pos: adj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
rare
examples: The fire raging upon the silly Carcase.
Silly... in the same sense as E. poor is often used, denoting a state which excites compassion.
gloss: Pitiful, inspiring compassion
pos: adj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
literary
rare
examples: There is no best in þe word, I wene... / That suffuris halfe so myche tene / As doth þe sylly wat.
In the silly lambis skin He crap als far as he micht win.
gloss: Pitiful, inspiring compassion
pos: adj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
literary
rare
examples: scared silly
Wherfore Christe must soo moche the more instantelye be sought vpon, that he may vouchsafe to defende vs sylly wretches.
Ah Shepheard, pity my diſtreſſed plight, / (If as thou ſeem’ſt, thou art ſo meane a man) / And ſeeke not to inrich thy followers, / By lawleſſe rapine from a ſilly maide, […]
There remained fresh Examples of their Barbarism against weak Sea-men, and silly Fisher-men.
gloss: Pitiful, inspiring compassion
pos: adj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
rare
examples: Ane sillie scheill vnder ane erdfast stane
[…]A pettigree / Of threescore and two yeares a sillie time, / To make prescription for a kingdomes worth.
It is naturally very poor, ‘silly’ land.
gloss: Pitiful, inspiring compassion
pos: adj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
rare
examples: Here we see that a smal sillie Bird knoweth how to match with so great a Beast.
[Christ] leaueth neither Children nor kinsfolke behind him to vphold his sillie kingdome.
That'll never grow. It's ower silly.
gloss: Pitiful, inspiring compassion
pos: adj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
rare
examples: To doe the thing we can / To please... / This silly sickly man.
Is there ony thing you would particularly fancy, as your health seems but silly?
gloss: Simple, plain
pos: adj
tags: rare
examples: Dauid had no more but a sylie slynge, and a few stones.
gloss: Simple, plain
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
rare
examples: The silly herdman all astonnied standes.
So luvaris lair no leid suld lak,
A lord to lufe a silly lass.
gloss: Mentally simple, foolish
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: From Hell (of which the silly people of the Country think the top of this hill to be the mouth).
gloss: Mentally simple, foolish
pos: adj
examples: silly mistake
Wee sillie soules, take the matter too too heauily.
‘Heaven help this silly fellow,’ murmured the perplexed locksmith.
Steve, don't be silly. I mean social intercourse.
The truth is that everyone is sillier than you could possibly imagine they'd be.
gloss: Mentally simple, foolish
pos: adj
tags: Scotland
examples: Fow ȝellow ȝellow wes hir heid bot scho of lufe wes sillie.
Davie's no just like other folk... but he's no sae silly as folk tak him for.
gloss: Mentally simple, foolish
pos: adj
examples: You say you were knocked silly—was that so?
Drinking myself silly...
Well, Judy, now that you've scared me silly, what's so important?
I can kick this stuff any time I like. I tell you what. Get this week over, we'll go to a health farm for ten days. No drugs. No drink. And shag ourselves silly. How about that?
gloss: Very close to the batsman, facing the bowler; closer than short.
pos: adj
examples: Carpenter now placed himself at silly-point for Grundy, who was playing very forward.
gloss: A silly person.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
examples: While they, poor sillies, bid good night,
O' love an' bogles eerie.
"Oh, Bill. I can't - Oh, my dear, I've been hoping so much.... Oh, Bill..." said Josella. I had forgotten all about Susan until a voice came from above. "You are getting wet, you silly. Why don't you kiss her indoors?" it asked.
gloss: A term of address.
pos: noun
tags: endearing
examples: ‘Come on, silly,’ said Nannie.
gloss: A mistake.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
Synonyms: charming
Also see Thesaurus:foolish
Antonyms: pious
Derived words: nonsilly
play silly beggars
play silly buggers
sillification
sillily
silliness
silly bean
silly billy
sillycidal
sillycide
sillyfic
silly goose
sillyhead
sillyhood
silly-how
sillyish
sillyism
sillykin
sillykins
sillyly
silly me
silly mid off
silly mid on
silly money
silly o'clock
silly pill
silly point
silly putty
silly sausage
silly season
silly slicing
silly straw
silly string
silly window syndrome
strike me silly
unsilly
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: onnosel
lang: Afrikaans
word: verspot
lang: Arabic
word: سَخِيف
roman: saḵīf
lang: Armenian
word: հիմար
roman: himar
lang: Armenian
word: տխմար
roman: txmar
lang: Azerbaijani
word: sarsaq
lang: Azerbaijani
word: səfeh
lang: Azerbaijani
word: axmaq
lang: Azerbaijani
word: qanmaz
lang: Azerbaijani
word: ağılsız
lang: Basque
word: ergel
lang: Belarusian
word: дурны́
roman: durný
lang: Belarusian
word: глу́пы
roman: hlúpy
lang: Belarusian
word: тупы́
roman: tupý
lang: Breton
word: sod
lang: Bulgarian
word: глу́пав
roman: glúpav
lang: Bulgarian
word: тъп
roman: tǎp
lang: Burmese
word: မိုက်မဲ
roman: muikmai:
lang: Burmese
word: န
roman: na.
lang: Burmese
word: မိုက်
roman: muik
lang: Burmese
word: တုံးတာ
roman: tum:ta
lang: Burmese
word: တုံး
roman: tum:
lang: Catalan
word: ximple
lang: Catalan
word: ximplet
lang: Catalan
word: fava
lang: Catalan
word: babau
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 愚蠢
roman: yúchǔn
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 笨
roman: bèn
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 傻
roman: shǎ
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 糊塗 /糊涂
roman: hútu
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 無聊 /无聊
roman: wúliáo
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 憨痴
roman: hānchī
lang: Czech
word: hloupý
lang: Czech
word: pošetilý
lang: Czech
word: bláhový
lang: Danish
word: dum
lang: Dutch
word: ondoordacht
lang: Dutch
word: dom
lang: Esperanto
word: malsaĝa
lang: Estonian
word: tobe
lang: Estonian
word: loll
lang: Finnish
word: typerä
lang: Finnish
word: hölmö
lang: French
word: sot
lang: French
word: insensé
lang: French
word: idiot
lang: French
word: bête
lang: French
word: fou
lang: French
word: stupide
lang: Galician
word: parvo
lang: German
word: doof
lang: German
word: dumm
lang: German
word: albern
lang: Greek
word: σαχλός
roman: sachlós
lang: Greek
word: χαζός
roman: chazós
lang: Greek
word: ανόητος
roman: anóitos
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἄφρων
roman: áphrōn
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἀβέλτερος
roman: abélteros
lang: Hawaiian
word: kohu ʻole
lang: Hebrew
word: מטופש
roman: metupásh
lang: Hebrew
word: טיפשי
roman: tipshí
lang: Hindi
word: मूर्ख
roman: mūrkh
lang: Hungarian
word: buta
lang: Hungarian
word: csacsi
lang: Ido
word: stulta
lang: Indonesian
word: bodoh
lang: Indonesian
word: konyol
lang: Ingrian
word: humppa
lang: Interlingua
word: fatue
lang: Irish
word: aertha
lang: Irish
word: gamalach
lang: Italian
word: sciocco
lang: Japanese
word: 馬鹿げた
roman: bakageta
lang: Japanese
word: 他愛ない
roman: tawainai
lang: Japanese
word: 馬鹿
roman: baka
lang: Khmer
word: ដែលភ្លីភ្លើ
roman: dael plii-pləə
lang: Korean
word: 어리석다
roman: eoriseokda
lang: Lao
word: ຈ້າ
roman: chā
lang: Latin
word: stultus
lang: Latin
word: fatuus
lang: Latin
word: ineptus
lang: Latin
word: excors
lang: Latvian
word: muļķīgs
lang: Latvian
word: dumjš
lang: Low German
word: sellig
lang: Macedonian
word: глупав
roman: glupav
lang: Manx
word: meecheeallagh
lang: Māori
word: rūrūwai
lang: Māori
word: wawau
lang: Marathi
word: फालतू
roman: phāltū
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: dum
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: teit
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: teit
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: fjollete
lang: Church Slavic
word: глоупъ
roman: glupŭ
lang: Polish
word: głupi
lang: Portuguese
word: bobo
lang: Portuguese
word: tolo
lang: Portuguese
word: ingénuo
lang: Romagnol
word: stòpid
lang: Russian
word: глу́пый
roman: glúpyj
lang: Russian
word: дурно́й
roman: durnój
lang: Russian
word: тупо́й
roman: tupój
lang: Sanskrit
word: दुर्मति
roman: durmati
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: amaideach
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: faoin
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: глу̑п
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: блесав
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: glȗp
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: blesav
lang: Slovak
word: hlúpy
lang: Slovene
word: neumen
lang: Slovene
word: butast
lang: Slovene
word: trapast
lang: Slovene
word: glúp
lang: Spanish
word: bobo
lang: Spanish
word: tonto
lang: Spanish
word: niñito
lang: Spanish
word: lelo
lang: Swedish
word: dum
lang: Thai
word: โง่
roman: ngôo
lang: Tongan
word: laupisi
lang: Turkish
word: aptal
lang: Turkish
word: saf
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: خفیف
roman: hafif
lang: Ukrainian
word: дурни́й
roman: durnýj
lang: Ukrainian
word: тупи́й
roman: tupýj
lang: Vietnamese
word: ngu
lang: Bulgarian
word: детински
roman: detinski
lang: Bulgarian
word: нехаен
roman: nehaen
lang: Czech
word: pitomý
lang: Czech
word: hloupý
lang: Dutch
word: dom
lang: Finnish
word: hölmö
lang: Finnish
word: ajattelematon
lang: Finnish
word: vastuuton
lang: Finnish
word: typerä
lang: French
word: idiot
lang: French
word: fou
lang: French
word: givré
lang: French
word: branque
lang: French
word: jeté
lang: Japanese
word: 馬鹿
roman: baka
lang: Japanese
word: 阿呆
roman: aho
lang: Latin
word: fatuus
lang: Latin
word: ineptus
lang: Māori
word: wawau
lang: Norwegian
word: tullete
lang: Norwegian
word: fjollete
lang: Portuguese
word: irresponsável
lang: Portuguese
word: infantil
lang: Portuguese
word: bobo
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: faoin
lang: Slovak
word: hlúpy
lang: Spanish
word: infantil
lang: Bulgarian
word: игрив
roman: igriv
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: ㄎㄧㄤ
roman: kiāng
lang: Danish
word: fjollet
lang: Dutch
word: ondeugend
lang: Dutch
word: gek
lang: Esperanto
word: facilanima
lang: Esperanto
word: fola
lang: Finnish
word: hassu
lang: French
word: bébête
lang: French
word: idiot
lang: French
word: nunuche
lang: German
word: albern
lang: Greek
word: σαχλός
roman: sachlós
lang: Hungarian
word: idétlen
lang: Icelandic
word: kjánalegur
lang: Japanese
word: つまらない
roman: tsumaranai
lang: Portuguese
word: bobo
lang: Russian
word: глупышка
roman: glupyška
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: faoin
lang: Spanish
word: apayasado
lang: Swedish
word: lekfull
lang: Swedish
word: fnittrig
lang: Tamil
word: விளையாட்டுத்தனமான
roman: viḷaiyāṭṭuttaṉamāṉa
lang: Czech
word: omráčený
lang: Czech
word: praštěný
lang: Finnish
word: sekava
lang: French
word: abruti
lang: Portuguese
word: semiconsciente
lang: Portuguese
word: aéreo
lang: Spanish
word: semiaturdido
lang: Danish
word: sølle
lang: Dutch
word: dom
lang: Dutch
word: stom
lang: Finnish
word: yksinkertainen
lang: Finnish
word: hölmö
lang: French
word: idiot de
lang: French
word: imbécile de
lang: Galician
word: tonto
lang: Hungarian
word: együgyű
lang: Italian
word: sciocco
lang: Japanese
word: 馬鹿
roman: baka
lang: Japanese
word: 阿呆
roman: aho
lang: Japanese
word: 愚鈍
roman: gudon
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: dum
lang: Portuguese
word: simples
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: amaideach
lang: Slovak
word: hlúpy
lang: Spanish
word: tontito
lang: Spanish
word: simple
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: بوك
roman: böñ
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: شاشقین
roman: şaşkın