Transcription
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
-
- [sil-ee]
- /ˈsɪl i/
- /ˈsɪli/
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [sil-ee]
- /ˈsɪl i/
Definitions of silly word
- adjective silly weak-minded or lacking good sense; stupid or foolish: a silly writer. 1
- adjective silly absurd; ridiculous; irrational: a silly idea. 1
- adjective silly stunned; dazed: He knocked me silly. 1
- adjective silly Cricket. (of a fielder or the fielder's playing position) extremely close to the batsman's wicket: silly mid off. 1
- adjective silly Archaic. rustic; plain; homely. 1
- adjective silly Archaic. weak; helpless. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of silly
First appearance:
before 1375 One of the 22% oldest English words
1375-1425; earlier sylie, sillie foolish, feeble-minded, simple, pitiful; late Middle English syly, variant of sely seely
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Silly
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
silly popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 95% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
silly usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for silly
adj silly
- addlebrained — having an addle brain; muddled; stupid
- addlepated — addlebrained.
- airheaded — Slang. a scatterbrained, stupid, or simple-minded person; dolt.
- all wet — wrong; mistaken
- anencephalic — born with no or only a partial brain
noun silly
- birdbrain — a foolish or unintelligent person
- dumb ox — a dimwit
- dunderhead — a dunce; blockhead; numbskull.
- fathead — Slang. a stupid person; fool.
- fool — to trick, deceive, or impose on: They tried to fool him.
verb silly
- make one's blood run cold — the fluid that circulates in the principal vascular system of human beings and other vertebrates, in humans consisting of plasma in which the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are suspended.
- make one's hair stand on end — any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.
adjective silly
- aper — a person who apes, a mimic
- babylike — Resembling a baby, or something associated with a baby.
- barmy — If you say that someone or something is barmy, you mean that they are slightly crazy or very foolish.
- changeful — often changing; inconstant; variable
- childish — Childish means relating to or typical of a child.
Antonyms for silly
adj silly
- canny — A canny person is clever and able to think quickly. You can also describe a person's behaviour as canny.
- crawly — feeling or causing a sensation like creatures crawling on one's skin
- eerie — uncanny, so as to inspire superstitious fear; weird: an eerie midnight howl.
- feller — Robert William Andrew ("Bob"; "Bullet Bob") 1918–2010, U.S. baseball player.
Top questions with silly
- how to get silly putty out of clothes?
- how to make silly putty?
- how to get silly putty out of carpet?
- how to get silly putty out?
- how to get silly putty out of hair?
- how to remove silly putty from hair?
- what does silly mean?
- how to make silly putty without liquid starch?
- how to make silly putty with borax?
- how to get silly putty off clothes?
- how to remove silly putty from carpet?
- who invented silly putty?
- how do you say silly in spanish?
- how to get silly putty out of a blanket?
- how to make silly putty without glue?