- pronunciation:
- sI
li
- features:
- Word Combinations (adjective), Word History, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| inflections: |
sillier, silliest |
| definition 1: |
without good sense.
Don't waste your time on those silly ideas.It's silly not to wear a coat in this cold weather.- synonyms:
- dumb, foolish
- antonyms:
- sensible
- similar words:
- stupid
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| definition 2: |
not serious or logical.
The children loved those silly stories.- similar words:
- absurd
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| derivations: |
sillily (adv.), silliness (n.) |
The meaning of
silly has changed many times over the centuries. In the 1200s, it meant "happy, fortunate, or holy." It then came to mean "innocent," and then "helpless or weak." By the 1500s, it was used to mean "simple, ignorant, or foolish."