Showing results for silly season. Search instead for Dull+Season.

silly season

American

noun

a time of year, usually in midsummer or during a holiday period, characterized by exaggerated news stories, frivolous entertainments, outlandish publicity stunts, etc..

The new movie reminds us that the silly season is here.

silly season British

noun

a period, usually during the hot summer months, when journalists fill space reporting on frivolous events and activities

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of silly season

First recorded in 1870–75

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.

It isn’t quite silly season yet, but the giggles are starting.

From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025

“I think that fact has kind of pushed the whole silly season forward where it hasn’t really been any movements,” Rosenqvist said.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

Players were interested in the silly season only when they got money up front.

From Washington Post • Aug. 15, 2022

Mr Blackford himself told BBC Scotland that it was "like silly season has arrived early".

From BBC • Mar. 10, 2022

There is a silly season in the life of everyone—even of every lawyer—who can call himself a man, and out of such silliness comes the gravity of knowledge.

From Tutt and Mr. Tutt by Train, Arthur Cheney

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023