silliness

American  

[sil-ee-nis] / ˈsɪl i nɪs /

noun

1. the quality of lacking good sense; foolishness.

   The author pokes fun at herself and the general silliness of celebrity culture.

   Her blog cuts through the contradictions, misinformation, and downright silliness out there about naturopathy.

2. absurdity, ridiculousness, or irrationality.

   This “no-touch” policy occasionally devolves into silliness, as when a teacher hesitates to help a five-year-old zip up a jacket.

3. clownish, whimsical, or exaggerated humor and playfulness; unrestrained high spirits.

   Our sessions included a lot of chatter, laughter, and silliness—exactly what sitting around a table playing games with friends is all about.

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Etymology

Origin of silliness

silly ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silliness

But the silliness of these things is part of their power, Geletka says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw declared, external that Zendaya "saves this film" from "silliness and the generic déjà vu overfamiliarity that is always threatening to sink it".

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

On the literal opposite end of the spectrum is “Nirvanna the Band the Show,” which ran on Viceland back in 2017 and just dropped two seasons’ worth of silliness.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

They say: ‘This is what we have heard, that you guys are not going to be around because of this debt,’ which is just silliness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026

I asked her why and she said, ‘They only let you be this happy if they’re preparing to take something from you,’ and I said, ‘Hush up, now. Enough of this silliness.’

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Related Words

• absurdity
• craziness
• foolishness
• goofiness
• stupidity