Definition of SILLY

silly

Plural: sillies

Noun

  • A foolish or stupid person.
  • a word used for misbehaving children
    • "don't be a silly"
  • A silly person.
  • A term of address.
  • A mistake.

Adjective Satellite

  • ludicrous, foolish
    • "a silly idea"
  • lacking seriousness; given to frivolity
    • "silly giggles"
  • inspiring scornful pity; - Dashiell Hammett
    • "how silly an ardent and unsuccessful wooer can be especially if he is getting on in years"
  • dazed from or as if from repeated blows
    • "knocked silly by the impact"

Adj

  • Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
  • Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
  • Absurdly large.
  • Blessed
  • Good; pious.
  • Blessed
  • Holy.
  • Pitiful, inspiring compassion, particularly
  • Pitiful, inspiring compassion
  • Innocent; suffering undeservedly, especially as an epithet of lambs and sheep.
  • Pitiful, inspiring compassion
  • Helpless, defenseless.
  • Pitiful, inspiring compassion
  • Insignificant, worthless, (chiefly Scotland) especially with regard to land quality.
  • Pitiful, inspiring compassion
  • Weak, frail; flimsy (use concerning people and animals is now obsolete).
  • Pitiful, inspiring compassion
  • Sickly; feeble; infirm.
  • Simple, plain
  • Rustic, homely.
  • Simple, plain
  • Lowly, of humble station.
  • Mentally simple, foolish
  • Rustic, uneducated, unlearned.
  • Mentally simple, foolish
  • Thoughtless, lacking judgment.
  • Mentally simple, foolish
  • Mentally retarded.
  • Mentally simple, foolish
  • Stupefied, senseless; stunned or dazed.
  • Very close to the batsman, facing the bowler; closer than short.

Adv

  • Sillily: in a silly manner.

Adjective

  • Showing a lack of good sense; foolish or absurd.

Examples

  • His opponent acted like a SILLY, sacrificing a bingo for a low-scoring, short word.
  • It would be silly to ignore the double letter score when playing such a high-value word.

Origin / 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”).

Synonyms

airheaded, cockamamie, cockamamy, dizzy, empty-headed, featherbrained, giddy, goofy, light-headed, lightheaded, pathetic, punch-drunk, ridiculous, sappy, slaphappy, wacky, whacky, zany, Also see Thesaurus:foolish, charming

Antonyms

pious

Scrabble Score: 8

silly: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
silly: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
silly: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

silly: valid Words With Friends Word