- pronunciation:
- sI
li
- features:
- Word History, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| inflections: |
sillier, silliest |
| definition 1: |
When something is silly, it does not make sense.
Michael didn't know it was silly to trade his dollar bill for two quarters.My dad did a silly thing this morning. He poured orange juice on his cereal instead of milk!- synonyms:
- dumb, foolish
- antonyms:
- sensible
- similar words:
- crazy, ridiculous, stupid
|
| definition 2: |
When something is silly, it is not serious. Silly things sometimes make you laugh or smile.
The two little boys were making silly faces at each other instead of eating their dinner.We learned a silly song today at school about animals that could talk and play baseball.- similar words:
- absurd, ridiculous
|
| related words: |
childish |
| 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."