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silliness

 - 3 dictionary results

sil⋅ly

  [sil-ee] adjective, -li⋅er, -li⋅est, noun, plural -lies.
Use silliness in a Sentence
–adjective
1. weak-minded or lacking good sense; stupid or foolish: a silly writer.
2. absurd; ridiculous; irrational: a silly idea.
3. stunned; dazed: He knocked me silly.
4. Cricket. (of a fielder or the fielder's playing position) extremely close to the batsman's wicket: silly mid off.
5. Archaic. rustic; plain; homely.
6. Archaic. weak; helpless.
7. Obsolete. lowly in rank or state; humble.
–noun
8. Informal. a silly or foolish person: Don't be such a silly.
Origin:
1375–1425; earlier sylie, sillie foolish, feeble-minded, simple, pitiful; late ME syly, var. of sely seely

Related forms:
sil⋅li⋅ly, adverb
sil⋅li⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. witless, senseless, dull-witted, dim-witted. See foolish. 2. inane, asinine, nonsensical, preposterous.

Antonyms:
1. sensible.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To silliness
sil·ly   (sĭl'ē)   
adj.   sil·li·er, sil·li·est

  1. Exhibiting a lack of wisdom or good sense; foolish. See Synonyms at foolish.

  2. Lacking seriousness or responsibleness; frivolous: indulged in silly word play; silly pet names for each other.

  3. Semiconscious; dazed: knocked silly by the impact.


[Middle English seli, silli, blessed, innocent, hapless, from Old English gesælig, blessed.]
sil'li·ly (sĭl'ə-lē) adv., sil'li·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

silly 
O.E. gesælig "happy" (related to sæl "happiness"), from W.Gmc. *sæligas (cf. O.N. sæll "happy," Goth. sels "good, kindhearted," O.S. salig, M.Du. salich, O.H.G. salig, Ger. selig "blessed, happy, blissful"), from PIE base *sel- "happy" (cf. Gk. hilaros "gay, cheerful," L. solari "to comfort," salvus "whole, safe"). The word's considerable sense development moved from "blessed" to "pious," to "innocent" (1200), to "harmless," to "pitiable" (c.1280), to "weak" (c.1300), to "feeble in mind, lacking in reason, foolish" (1576). Further tendency toward "stunned, dazed as by a blow" (1886) in knocked silly, etc. Silly season in journalism slang is from 1861 (August and September, when newspapers compensate for a lack of hard news by filling up with trivial stories). Silly Putty trademark claims use from July 1949.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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