filly
Americannoun
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fillies
plural
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a young female horse.
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Informal. a girl or young woman.
noun
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a female horse or pony under the age of four
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informal a spirited girl or young woman
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of filly
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English fyly, from Old Norse fyla “female, foal”; see foal
Explanation
A filly is a young female horse. The male equivalent of a filly is a "colt." In most places, a filly is not yet four years old, although sometimes a female horse younger than five is considered a filly. Before she is a year old, a filly is also called a "foal," or a baby horse — and between the ages of one and two, she's also a "yearling." Around 1400, the word was spelled fyly, possibly from the Old Norse fylja, the feminine of foli, or "foal."
Vocabulary lists containing filly
Horsin' Around
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The Book of Unknown Americans
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Black Beauty
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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:
Pletcher knows the route well: Three of his Belmont champions did it, and the fourth, the filly Rags to Riches, was idle from the Kentucky Oaks until the Belmont.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Smith said the filly “broke really well but she must have hit herself leaving the gate. She was real choppy and didn’t feel comfortable.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2026
The 3-year-old filly, trained by Peter Eurton, was making her sixth career start, the last three in turf races.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2026
The 3-year-old filly is trained by Jose Francisco D’Angelo and was ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., who picked up his 22nd Cup victory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2025
A daring she had never known filled Daenerys then, and she gave the filly her head.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
He looks to buy fillies and mares that are good broodmare prospects, then either resells them or breeds them and sells the foal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
But McPeek did something that hasn’t been done since 1952, winning the Kentucky Oaks for fillies and the Kentucky Derby on consecutive days.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2024
Saturday’s win helped both claim rare weekend sweeps of the Derby and Kentucky Oaks for fillies.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2024
The party usually gets started well before the main event: On Friday, a crowd watched a race for fillies, the Kentucky Oaks.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2024
But, lack-a-day! we have to drive thirty: and skittish fillies some of them are.
From In Convent Walls The Story of the Despensers by M. (Madelaine) Irwin
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.
