Nearby Words

frilly

[fril-ee] Origin

frill·y

[fril-ee]
adjective, frill·i·er, frill·i·est.
1.
covered with or marked by frills: Some of the more elaborate dress shirts have frilly fronts.
2.
frivolous; inconsequential: After a day of intense concentration and serious business, they feel like doing something frilly and amusing.

Origin:
1835–45; frill + -y1

frill·i·ness, noun
un·frill·y, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Frilly is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
frill (frɪl)
 
n
1.  a gathered, ruched, or pleated strip of cloth sewn on at one edge only, as on garments, as ornament, or to give extra body
2.  a ruff of hair or feathers around the neck of a dog or bird or a fold of skin around the neck of a reptile or amphibian
3.  (often capital) Full name: oriental frill a variety of domestic fancy pigeon having a ruff of curled feathers on the chest and crop
4.  photog a wrinkling or loosening of the emulsion at the edges of a negative or print
5.  informal (often plural) a superfluous or pretentious thing or manner; affectation: he made a plain speech with no frills
 
vb
6.  (tr) to adorn or fit with a frill or frills
7.  to form into a frill or frills
8.  (intr) photog (of an emulsion) to develop a frill
 
[C14: perhaps of Flemish origin]
 
'frilliness
 
n
 
'frilly
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

frilly
1843, from frill + -y (2). Related: Frilliness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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