Silly Meaning
/ˈsɪl.i/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjLaughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
adjLaughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance., Absurdly large.
Sentence Examples
I need to ask you a silly question.
It was silly of you to trust them.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The children told a ____ joke that made everyone laugh, though it was not clever.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was a ____ mistake to forget my house keys when I left for work.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"This is the silliest stuffe, that euer I heard."
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], line 209:
"I remember, before the Dwarf left the Queen, he followed us one day into thoſe gardens, and my Nurſe having ſet me down, he and I being cloſe together, near ſome Dwarf Apple trees, I muſt need ſhew my Wit, by a ſilly Alluſion between him and the Trees, which happens to hold in their Language as it doth in ours."
— 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 226–227:
"Well sir, I have a silly walk and I'd like to obtain a Government grant to help me develop it."
— 1970, Graham Chapman et al., Monty Python's Flying Circus, I, 183:
"The King of Spaine is counted very ſtrong, and the Pope is counted very ſtrong, because they haue a ſtrong hand to perſecute the ſilly ones of leſus Chriſt."
— c. 1600, Robert Rollo[c]k, chapter I, in Lectvres Vpon The Epistle Of Pavl To The Colossians, London: Felix Kyngston, page 27:
"Silly... in the same sense as E. poor is often used, denoting a state which excites compassion."
— 1808, John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The children told a ____ joke that made everyone laugh, though it was not clever.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was a ____ mistake to forget my house keys when I left for work.