in good spirits; gay; merry: In a moment he was as jolly as ever.
2.
cheerfully festive or convivial: a jolly party.
3.
joyous; happy: Christmas is a jolly season.
4.
Chiefly BritishInformal. delightful; charming.
5.
British.
a.
Informal. great; thorough: a jolly blunderer.
b.
Slang. slightly drunk; tipsy.
verb (used with object)
6.
Informal. to talk or act agreeably to (a person) in order to keep that person in good humor, especially in the hope of gaining something (usually followed by along): They jollied him along until the job was done.
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Jolliedis always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
So is ort. Does it mean:
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Informal. the practice or an instance of jollying a person.
9.
Usually, jollies.Informal. pleasurable excitement, especially from or as if from something forbidden or improper; thrills; kicks: He gets his jollies from watching horror movies.
adverb
10.
BritishInformal. extremely; very: He'll jolly well do as he's told.
Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English joli, jolif < Old French, equivalent to jol- (probably < Old Norse jōlYule) + -if-ive
Related forms
jol·li·ly, adverb
jol·li·ness, noun
un·jol·ly, adjective
Synonyms 1–3. glad, spirited, jovial, sportive, playful. See gay.
c.1300, from O.Fr. jolif "festive, merry, amorous, pretty" of uncertain origin (cf. It. giulivo "merry, pleasant"), perhaps a Gmc. loan-word from a source akin to O.N. jol "a winter feast" (see yule), or from L. gaudere "to rejoice." Jollification "merrymaking" is from 1809;
shortened form jolly led to phrase get (one's) jollies "have fun" (1957). A jolly boat (1727) is probably from Dan. jolle (17c.) or Du. jol (1680s), both related to yawl (q.v.); or it may be from M.E. jolywat (late 15c.) "a ship's small boat," of unknown origin.
mod. alcohol intoxicated; tipsy. : Kelly was a little too jolly, and her sister told her to slow down.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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