jolly
Americanadjective
-
in good spirits; lively; merry.
In a moment he was as jolly as ever.
- Antonyms:
- melancholy, gloomy
-
cheerfully festive or convivial.
a jolly party.
- Antonyms:
- melancholy, gloomy
-
joyous; happy.
Christmas is a jolly season.
- Antonyms:
- melancholy, gloomy
-
Chiefly British Informal. delightful; charming.
-
British.
-
Informal. great; thorough.
a jolly blunderer.
-
Slang. slightly drunk; tipsy.
-
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
Informal. the practice or an instance of jollying a person.
-
Informal. Usually jollies. pleasurable excitement, especially from or as if from something forbidden or improper; thrills; kicks.
He gets his jollies from watching horror movies.
adverb
adjective
-
full of good humour; jovial
-
having or provoking gaiety and merrymaking; festive
-
greatly enjoyable; pleasing
adverb
verb
-
to try to make or keep (someone) cheerful
-
to make goodnatured fun of
noun
-
informal a festivity or celebration
-
informal a trip, esp one made for pleasure by a public official or committee at public expense
-
slang a Royal Marine
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jollysimple
-
jolliessimple
-
have jolliedperfect
-
has jolliedperfect
-
am jollyingprogressive
-
are jollyingprogressive
-
is jollyingprogressive
-
have been jollyingperfect progressive
-
has been jollyingperfect progressive
Past
-
jolliedsimple
-
had jolliedperfect
-
was jollyingprogressive
-
were jollyingprogressive
-
had been jollyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jolly
1275–1325; Middle English joli, jolif < Old French, equivalent to jol- (probably < Old Norse jōl Yule ( def. ) ) + -if -ive
Explanation
Someone who's jolly is extremely cheerful. Your jolly French teacher might spend a large part of each class laughing out loud at his own jokes — if only you understood French, you could laugh along with him. Santa Claus might be the mythical figure best known for being jolly — he's especially famous for his jolly "Ho ho ho!" Anyone who tends to be merry or festive is jolly, and when you want to cheer up a less-than-jolly friend, you can jolly them, teasing or kidding until they smile. The Old French root is jolif, "festive, merry, or pretty."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And maybe Van Dyke is a little like Santa: white hair, rosy cheeks, jolly and wholesome.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2026
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, at 52.9, was a touch below expectations of 53.4, but Wall Street was still in a jolly mood following yesterday’s cooler-than-expected consumer price index.
From Barron's ● Dec. 20, 2025
Ms. Wiles seems, in the piece, to have been allowed, perhaps even encouraged, to view her interlocutor as her friend, her jolly confidante.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
“Good Pope John” was far more than the jolly Italian nonno of popular legend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
So I let my sisterly guard down, tell Garrett to mind Charity, and I join Jacqui, Kelton, and the jolly gargantuan biker to fill up the truck.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
When they return from their jollies, they will have the task of keeping the Ashes alive past Christmas.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2025
Sunday was a tough day for those, like me, who get their entertainment jollies by watching losers try to redeem themselves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
“They figured out, let’s appeal to folks who get their jollies making fun of the stroke dude,” Fetterman said on MSNBC.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022
“I get my jollies serving people,” he says, “So, I made good burgers and I served good coffee.”
From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2022
Basically, if you get your jollies crawling on your hands and knees digging up fossilized poop, then you’ll really love an office full of the real thing—smell included.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
It also makes "Peacemaker" a jollier and more complicated view into the DC world than those we see in the movies because Chris Smith isn't merely human, he's average.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2022
Even the jollier song “Perfect Wife,” with its upbeat drums and lively flutes, feels somber in the broader context of the project.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2021
The study also pondered on whether beards intensified a man’s character – making jolly men look jollier, angry men angrier.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 30, 2019
Basically, this is the same family crowd you might see on the weekends at the zoo, except much better dressed and maybe a bit jollier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2014
Did he want me to, I don’t know...be jollier during that one practice I had attended?
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
If you feel ... pettiness in your soul, wishing the world a Happy Festivus may be one of the jolliest things you can do.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2022
It’s the jolliest thing in the show: a synchronized dance to the Pussycat Dolls song “When I Grow Up,” performed in heels, wigs and diaphanous floral-print caftans.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2022
“The world is chaos right now,” says Steven Davison, a phrase that contrasts with what just may be the jolliest job title in the lands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2016
It’s as jolly as the jolliest Merseybeat song, as sentimental as a Wings album.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 23, 2016
Let’s just say, they’re not the jolliest of giants, those three stone brothers.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
The audience is jollied along by Veneziale with polite puckishness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2022
What befalls Malvolio is the one indelible blot on Shakespeare’s play: recreational cruelty that can’t be jollied away.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2022
These weren’t people jollied by the guy with the funny hair.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 30, 2021
It was a perfect misunderstanding, between two strangers who’d been jollied into conjunction by a go-between—me, that is.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 2, 2019
Then Big Ma, who’d been jollied out of her fussing, was once again sharp and angry.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
It seems churlish to begrudge any efforts to spread positivity – but his messages can smack of a jollying stranger telling you to smile.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 2, 2018
I got some news to tell ya, Woahoho About some wild, wild life Wild Wild Life, currently jollying up Top 40 radio, could be the Heads' happiest hit yet.
From Time Magazine Archive
The author has more on her mind, however, than jollying readers with not-so-mock rock lyrics.
From Time Magazine Archive
But he keeps flirting with girls, joking with small children, jollying jaundiced drivers along, all the while methodically stacking their dollar bills and making little quarter-nickel-dime pyramids for change.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was everywhere at once, pushing, pulling, sawing, hammering, improvising, jollying everyone along with comradely exhortations and giving out from every fold of his body what seemed an inexhaustible supply of acrid-smelling sweat.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
