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dilly

[dil-ee]
See more synonyms for dilly on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural dil·lies. Informal.
  1. something or someone regarded as remarkable, unusual, etc.: a dilly of a movie.
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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]
noun
  1. a city on NE Timor, in S Indonesia.
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Dilli

or Dil·ly

[dil-ee]
noun
  1. Dili.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dilly

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • And again, in spite of the Joyces, Dilly felt homesick and alone.

    Tiverton Tales

    Alice Brown

  • She was no older than Dilly, but she had seemed matronly in her teens.

    Tiverton Tales

    Alice Brown

  • She included them both in a neighborly glance, and Dilly was very grateful.

    Tiverton Tales

    Alice Brown

  • Dilly looked up at him with her bright, truth-telling glance.

    Tiverton Tales

    Alice Brown

  • "Maybe," said Dilly, nodding and tying her last bundle of papers.

    Tiverton Tales

    Alice Brown

British Dictionary definitions for dilly

dilly1

noun plural -lies
  1. slang, mainly US and Canadian a person or thing that is remarkable
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Word Origin

C20: perhaps from girl's proper name Dilly

dilly2

adjective -lier or -liest
  1. Australian and NZ slang silly
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Word Origin

C20: perhaps from silly

Dili

Dilli

noun
  1. the capital (from 2002) of independent East Timor: the former capital (until 1976) of Portuguese Timor. Pop: 50 000 (2005 est)
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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

Word Origin and History for dilly

n.

"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).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper