silly

[ sil-ee ]

adjective

, sil·li·er, sil·li·est.

1. weak-minded or lacking good sense; stupid or foolish:

   a silly writer.

   Synonyms: dull-witted, dull, dim, dense, brainless, senseless, witless

   Antonyms: sensible

2. absurd; ridiculous; irrational:

   a silly idea.

   Synonyms: preposterous, nonsensical, asinine, inane

3. humorous and playful in a clownish, whimsical, or exaggerated way; showing unrestrained high spirits:

   With a few April Fools’ Day tricks, students have a respite from seriousness and get to just be silly and laugh.

4. stunned; dazed:

   He knocked me silly.

5. Cricket. (of a fielder or the fielder's playing position) extremely close to the batsman's wicket:

   silly mid off.

6. Archaic. rustic; plain; homely.
7. Archaic. weak; helpless.
8. Obsolete. lowly in rank or state; humble.

noun

, plural sil·lies.

1. Informal. a silly or foolish person:

   Don't be such a silly.

silly

/ ˈsɪlɪ /

adjective

1. lacking in good sense; absurd
2. frivolous, trivial, or superficial
3. feeble-minded
4. dazed, as from a blow
5. obsolete.
   homely or humble

noun

1. modifier cricket (of a fielding position) near the batsman's wicket

   silly mid-on

2. informal.
   Also calledsilly-billy -lies a foolish person

Derived Forms

• ˈsilliness, noun

Other Words From

• sil·li·ly adverb
• sil·li·ness noun
• un·sil·ly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of silly¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; earlier sylie, sillie “foolish, feeble-minded, simple, pitiful”; late Middle English syly, variant of sely seely

Word History and Origins

Origin of silly¹

C15 (in the sense: pitiable, hence the later senses: foolish): from Old English sǣlig (unattested) happy, from sǣl happiness; related to Gothic sēls good

Example Sentences

"She's an icon and bigger than the sport right now. We need those people in our game, so everyone's been a little bit silly."

From BBC

Whilst also being silly, and people are being blown out of buildings, it has that texture of melancholia and loneliness underneath it.

From Los Angeles Times

The breathlessness, though, struck me as somewhat silly.

From New York Times

“Bathrooms are the perfect place to be silly,” she says of her lipstick kiss-themed bathroom, inspired by a makeup wipe she purchased from her favorite drag queen, Tammie Brown, on Instagram and later framed.

From Los Angeles Times

"Please stop this silly debate about the best centre-back, it's not even close."

From BBC

Related Words

• childish
• crazy
• frivolous
• idiotic
• inappropriate
• irresponsible
• ludicrous
• nonsensical
• pointless
• preposterous
• ridiculous
• simple
• stupid

When To Use

What are other ways to say silly?

The adjective silly describes behavior or people that lack good sense, or things that are absurd or irrational. Do you know when to use silly, fatuous, foolish, inane, stupid, and asinine? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

More About Silly

Where does silly come from?

You have probably heard someone say that language is constantly changing. We are definitely guilty of saying that here at Dictionary.com. But what does that mean exactly? Well, the story of the word silly is one clear—and fascinating—illustration.

Languages change in many ways. The sounds and forms of a language can morph. The underlying structures of a language can shift. New words are created. Old words die out. And as we see in the case of silly, the meaning of words can develop in some remarkable ways.

Today, we generally use the word silly to describe something as “foolish.” Something silly can be amusing, as when kids make silly faces or play silly games. Something silly can also be, more dismissively, stupid. For example: The politician’s promises were nothing but silly pipedreams.  

But care to guess what the original sense of silly was? “Blessed.” We’re not being silly. Among the oldest recorded senses of silly—or, more accurately, the word that became our modern word silly—was “spiritually blessed.” Those senses are recorded in the early 1200s. So how did we get to “foolish”?

Dig deeper

Silly ultimately comes from the Old English (c.450–c1150) word gesǣlig, meaning “happy, blessed.” Talk about language change! Let’s break this gesǣlig down. That ge- is an Old English prefix that was effectively lost. That –ig became –y, which is all over English today, as in juicy or dreamy. And sǣl meant “happiness.”

During Middle English (c1150–1475), this gesǣlig developed into new forms (see our entry at the archaic word seely) and many new senses. The word acquired the senses of “holy, innocent, helpless,” then “pitiable” and “insignificant,” then “simple” and “ignorant.” By the mid- to late 1500s, silly had gained the meaning of “lacking good sense, foolish, irrational, ridiculous.”

It’s hard to say why, exactly, but there may be something of a through-line in the incredible sense development of silly. Something “happy” can be considered “favored by God.” Something “favored by God” can be considered “holy,” and so “innocent,” which may be said of a small animal or child who is “harmless” or “defenseless.” (Are you following us so far?) And if you can’t protect yourself or you lack power, you might be considered “worthless” or “miserable”—and so silly apparently jumps to “foolish.”

Did you know ... ?

Like silly, many other familiar words don’t mean today what they meant centuries ago. Explore the origins of the following words for some more amazing examples of change in the English language:

• awful (literally “full of awe”)
• bully (originally meaning “sweetheart”)
• nice (“stupid” in Middle English)

Still having a hard time believing all these changes? Look to slang, which often flips something negative into a positive, as in bad or sick (“excellent”). Also consider all the ways digital technology has radically expanded the original meanings of words, such as tweet and viral.