silly

[sil-ee]

adjective

sillier, silliest 

1. weak-minded or lacking good sense; stupid or foolish.

   a silly writer.

   Synonyms: dull-witted, dull, dim, dense, brainless, senseless, witless
   Antonyms: sensible

2. absurd; ridiculous; irrational.

   a silly idea.

   Synonyms: preposterous, nonsensical, asinine, inane

3. humorous and playful in a clownish, whimsical, or exaggerated way; showing unrestrained high spirits.

   With a few April Fools’ Day tricks, students have a respite from seriousness and get to just be silly and laugh.

4. stunned; dazed.

   He knocked me silly.

5. Cricket.,  (of a fielder or the fielder's playing position) extremely close to the batsman's wicket.

   silly mid off.

6. Archaic.,  rustic; plain; homely.

7. Archaic.,  weak; helpless.

8. Obsolete.,  lowly in rank or state; humble.

noun

plural

sillies 

1. Informal.,  a silly or foolish person.

   Don't be such a silly.

silly

/ ˈsɪlɪ /

adjective

1. lacking in good sense; absurd

2. frivolous, trivial, or superficial

3. feeble-minded

4. dazed, as from a blow

5. obsolete,  homely or humble

noun

1. (modifier) cricket (of a fielding position) near the batsman's wicket

   silly mid-on

2. Also called: silly-billy. informal,  a foolish person

Other Word Forms

• silliness noun
• sillily adverb
• unsilly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of silly¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; earlier sylie, sillie “foolish, feeble-minded, simple, pitiful”; late Middle English syly, variant of sely seely

Word History and Origins

Origin of silly¹

C15 (in the sense: pitiable, hence the later senses: foolish): from Old English sǣlig (unattested) happy, from sǣl happiness; related to Gothic sēls good

Example Sentences

"We've had a really good, fun and silly time. I'm grateful to have had the year after the experiment out of the public eye."

From BBC

Those comedians taught him that craftsmanship matters even, or especially, when you’re being silly.

From Los Angeles Times

Do you know that our whole lives revolve around a series of silly little coffees?

From Los Angeles Times

"Very silly of you all to assume that just because I have my hands full with many things that I plan to abandon singing & music...!!!" she wrote on Instagram.

From BBC

The video of the incident went viral because of how silly and harmless the sandwich toss was.

From Salon

Related Words

• childish 
• crazy 
• frivolous 
• idiotic 
• inappropriate 
• irresponsible 
• ludicrous 
• nonsensical 
• pointless 
• preposterous 
• ridiculous 
• simple 
• stupid 

When To Use

Where does silly come from?

You have probably heard someone say that language is constantly changing. We are definitely guilty of saying that here at Dictionary.com. But what does that mean exactly? Well, the story of the word silly is one clear—and fascinating—illustration.Languages change in many ways. The sounds and forms of a language can morph. The underlying structures of a language can shift. New words are created. Old words die out. And as we see in the case of silly, the meaning of words can develop in some remarkable ways.Today, we generally use the word silly to describe something as “foolish.” Something silly can be amusing, as when kids make silly faces or play silly games. Something silly can also be, more dismissively, stupid. For example: The politician’s promises were nothing but silly pipedreams.  But care to guess what the original sense of silly was? “Blessed.” We’re not being silly. Among the oldest recorded senses of silly—or, more accurately, the word that became our modern word silly—was “spiritually blessed.” Those senses are recorded in the early 1200s. So how did we get to “foolish”?Dig deeperSilly ultimately comes from the Old English (c.450–c1150) word gesǣlig, meaning “happy, blessed.” Talk about language change! Let’s break this gesǣlig down. That ge- is an Old English prefix that was effectively lost. That -ig became -y, which is all over English today, as in juicy or dreamy. And sǣl meant “happiness.”During Middle English (c1150–1475), this gesǣlig developed into new forms (see our entry at the archaic word seely) and many new senses. The word acquired the senses of “holy, innocent, helpless,” then “pitiable” and “insignificant,” then “simple” and “ignorant.” By the mid- to late 1500s, silly had gained the meaning of “lacking good sense, foolish, irrational, ridiculous.”It’s hard to say why, exactly, but there may be something of a through-line in the incredible sense development of silly. Something “happy” can be considered “favored by God.” Something “favored by God” can be considered “holy,” and so “innocent,” which may be said of a small animal or child who is “harmless” or “defenseless.” (Are you following us so far?) And if you can’t protect yourself or you lack power, you might be considered “worthless” or “miserable”—and so silly apparently jumps to “foolish.”