silly

silly
adjective (sillier, silliest)
1》 lacking in common sense or judgement; foolish.
2》 trivial or frivolous.
3》 archaic helpless; defenceless.
4》 Cricket denoting fielding positions very close to the batsman: silly mid-on.
noun (plural sillies) informal a silly person.
Phrases
the silly season high summer, regarded as the season when newspapers often publish trivial material because of a lack of important news.
Derivatives
sillily adverb
silliness noun
Word History
Silly entered English (spelled seely) in the 13th century from a Germanic source, in the senses 'happy, blissful' and 'lucky, auspicious'. From this the senses 'spiritually blessed' and 'pious and holy' arose. A subtle development in meaning from 'innocent, harmless' (often referring to animals) to 'deserving of pity' led to 'feeble' and then, from the early 16th century, 'foolish, simple'. The spelling silly is recorded from the 15th century.

English new terms dictionary. 2014.

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Synonyms:

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  • Silly — steht für: Silly (Band), eine deutsche Band Silly ist der Name folgender geographischer Objekte: Silly (Belgien), eine Stadt in Belgien Silly (Burkina Faso), eine Gemeinde und ein Departement in Burkina Faso Silly en Gouffern, eine Gemeinde im… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Silly — Datos generales Origen Berlín Este (RDA) Información artística …   Wikipedia Español

  • Silly — Sil ly, a. [Compar. {Sillier}; superl. {Silliest}.] [OE. seely, sely, AS. s?lig, ges?lig, happy, good, fr. s?l, s?l, good, happy, s?l good fortune, happines; akin to OS. s[=a]lig, a, good, happy, D. zalig blessed, G. selig, OHG. s[=a]l[=i]g, Icel …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • silly — [sil′ē] adj. sillier, silliest [ME seli, sili (with shortened vowel), good, blessed, innocent < OE sælig, happy, prosperous, blessed (akin to Ger selig, blessed) < sæl, happiness < IE base * sel , favorable, in good spirits (> Gr… …   English World dictionary

  • silly — O.E. gesælig happy (related to sæl happiness ), from W.Gmc. *sæligas (Cf. O.N. sæll happy, Goth. sels good, kindhearted, O.S. salig, M.Du. salich, O.H.G. salig, Ger. selig blessed, happy, blissful ), from PIE root …   Etymology dictionary

  • Silly — Silly, in addition to its dictionary definitions, may refer to: * Silly, Belgium, a town in Belgium * Silly (band), an East German rock group from the 1970s …   Wikipedia

  • Silly — Le nom est surtout porté dans l Eure et Loir. Il désigne celui qui est originaire de Silly (ou Sillé), nom de plusieurs communes et de divers hameaux. Dans cette région, on pensera notamment à la commune de Silly en Gouffern (61). Sens probable… …   Noms de famille

  • silly — ► ADJECTIVE (sillier, silliest) 1) lacking in common sense or judgement; foolish. 2) trivial or frivolous. 3) Cricket denoting fielding positions very close to the batsman: silly mid on. ► NOUN (pl. sillies) informal ▪ …   English terms dictionary

  • Silly — Silly, Dorf im Arrondissement Soignies der belgischen Provinz Hennegau; 2600 Ew …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • silly — index fatuous, frivolous, inept (inappropriate), ludicrous, puerile, superficial, vacuous Burton s Legal …   Law dictionary

  • silly — 1 *simple, foolish, fatuous, asinine Analogous words: *irrational, unreasonable: *stupid, slow, dull, dense, crass, dumb: vacuous, *empty 2 *foolish, absurd, preposterous …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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