dilly
[ dil-ee ]
/ ˈdɪl i /
|
noun, plural dil·lies. Informal.
something or someone regarded as remarkable, unusual, etc.: a dilly of a movie.
RELATED CONTENT
Getting Braggadocious: Top Word Trends On Dictionary.com1. hologram Searches for this futuristic term jumped 65% this week as news circulated that Justin Timberlake would be performing with a hologram of Prince during the Super Bowl halftime show. Before game-day, it came out that Prince was not a fan of the technology, saying in 1998, “that whole virtual reality thing… it really is demonic. And I am not a demon.” Ultimately, Timberlake …
Nearby words
- dillon,
- dillon, clarence douglas,
- dillon, john,
- dillon, john forrest,
- dillweed,
- dilly bag,
- dilly-dally,
- dillydally,
- diltiazem,
- diltiazem hydrochloride
Origin of dilly
1930–35; Americanism; earlier as adj.: wonderful, apparently a shortening of delightful or delicious, with -y1 (now taken as -y2)
Dili
or Dil·li, Dil·ly
[ dil-ee ]
/ ˈdɪl i /
noun
a city on NE Timor, in S Indonesia.
Dilli
or Dil·ly
[ dil-ee ]
/ ˈdɪl i /
noun
Dili.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for dilly
dilly
1/ (ˈdɪlɪ) /
noun plural -lies
slang, mainly US and Canadian a person or thing that is remarkable
Word Origin for dilly
C20: perhaps from girl's proper name Dilly
adjective -lier or -liest
Australian and NZ slang silly
Word Origin for dilly
C20: perhaps from silly
Dili
Dilli
/ (ˈdiːliː) /
noun
the capital (from 2002) of independent East Timor: the former capital (until 1976) of Portuguese Timor. Pop: 50 000 (2005 est)
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
dilly
"delightful or excellent person or thing" (often used ironically), 1935, American English, from an earlier adjective (1909), perhaps from the first syllable of delightful or delicious, or related to the nursery word for "duck." Dilly was also slang for a stagecoach (1818), from French carrosse de diligence (see diligence).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper