See Also: silly(medicine)
silly-how(dictionary)
silly(dictionary)
silly 2, noun(dictionary)
silly 1, adjective(dictionary)
silly billy(dictionary)
silly season(dictionary)
Scared Silly(recipes)
Silly Snake Sandwich(recipes)
Silly Spaghetti Casserole(recipes)

silly (iou)



silly adjective, adverb, noun, & verb. LME.
[Alt. of SEELY.]
A. adjective.
a. Deserving of pity, compassion, or sympathy. Cf. POOR adjective 4. obsolete exc. dial. LME.
b. Esp. of a woman, child, or animal: helpless, defenceless. Long rare exc. as a conventional (poetic) epithet of sheep. E16.
Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona Do no outrages On silly women or poor passengers. W. Cowper His silly sheep, what wonder if they stray?
Weak, feeble; insignificant, trifling. obsolete exc. Scot. M16.
b. Sickly, ailing. Scot. & north. Now rare. L16.
c. Scanty, meagre. L16-M18.
a. (Of a person) unsophisticated, rustic, ignorant; (of a thing) plain, simple, homely. M16-L18.
b. Of humble rank; lowly. M16-M17.
Of very low intelligence, having a mental handicap. Orig. Scot. L16.
Displaying a lack of judgement or common sense; fatuous, foolish, senseless, empty-headed. L16.
N. Coward It's so silly to get cross at criticism.
b. Associated with foolishness; absurd, ridiculous, contemptible. L16.
T. Heggen He looked pretty silly..with his nose sticking out from the bandages. N. Freeling Janine was snuffling in a silly little hanky. Listener Beware street-market tapes at silly prices.
c. Cricket. Very close to the batsman. Chiefly in silly mid-on, silly mid-off, silly point. L19.
Stunned, stupefied, dazed (as) by a blow. Esp. in knock silly, knocked silly. L19.
Phrases: play silly buggers: see BUGGER noun1 3.
Special collocations: silly ass a foolish or stupid person; spec. an amiable upper-class idiot. silly billy a foolish or feeble person. silly house slang a mental hospital. Silly Putty (proprietary name for) a mouldable silicone-based substance with remarkable properties of stretching, shattering, and bouncing sharply when appropriately handled, sold chiefly as a plaything. silly season the months of August and September, when newspapers make up for the lack of serious news with articles on trivial topics; transf. a period dominated by the trivial or absurd.
b. adverb. = SILLILY adverb 2. Now dial. or colloq. E18.
C. noun. A silly or foolish person. colloq. M19.
J. Grenfell I am a big silly, aren't I?
D. verb. Chiefly dial.
verb trans. Stupefy, stun, daze. M19.
verb intrans. Act foolishly; fool about. L19.
sillyism noun a silly expression or utterance E18.