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silly season

American

noun

a time of year, usually in midsummer or during a holiday period, characterized by exaggerated news stories, frivolous entertainments, outlandish publicity stunts, etc..

The new movie reminds us that the silly season is here.

silly season British

noun

a period, usually during the hot summer months, when journalists fill space reporting on frivolous events and activities

"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

Etymology

Origin of silly season

First recorded in 1870–75

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.

It isn’t quite silly season yet, but the giggles are starting.

From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025

Zuriff was responsible for previous iterations of 'The Match' - televised silly season clashes for cash.

From BBC • Dec. 16, 2024

“I think that fact has kind of pushed the whole silly season forward where it hasn’t really been any movements,” Rosenqvist said.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

New York is certainly primed for a silly season, which the Public Theater, orchestrator of the entertainment, takes admirably to heart.

From Washington Post • Aug. 15, 2021

This manufactured "scene," coming as it did in the silly season, was made to serve instead of the Sea-Serpent, the Toad-in-the-Rock, the Shower of Frogs, and other familiar inventions for holiday reading.

From The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol. 1 by Furniss, Harry

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023