- showing a lack of thought, understanding, or judgement synonym foolish
- a silly idea/question/name
- That was a silly thing to do!
- It sounds silly, I know, but think about it.
- Her work is full of silly mistakes.
- ‘I can walk home.’ ‘Don't be silly—it's much too far!’
- The answers they give are plain silly.
- You silly boy!
- it is silly to do something It would have been silly to pretend that I wasn't upset.
- it is silly of somebody to do something It would be silly of me to say no.
- How silly of me to expect them to help!
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- stupid or embarrassing, especially in a way that is more typical of a child than an adult synonym ridiculous
- a silly sense of humour
- a silly game
- He would never dance in case he looked silly.
- I feel silly in these clothes.
- She had a silly grin on her face.
- This is getting silly! I think we had all better calm down.
- not practical or serious
- We had to wear these silly little hats.
- Why worry about a silly thing like that?
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘deserving of pity or sympathy’): alteration of dialect seely ‘happy’, later ‘innocent, feeble’, from a West Germanic base meaning ‘luck, happiness’. The sense ‘foolish’ developed via the stages ‘feeble’ and ‘unsophisticated, ignorant’.
Idioms
See silly in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarybored stiff/silly | bored to death/tears | bored out of your mind
- (informal) extremely bored
- I remember being bored stiff during my entire time at school.
- She enjoys it. Everyone else is bored silly.
- He walked along, bored out of his mind.
- She was alone all day and bored to death.
Extra Examples- You must be bored stiff stuck at home all day.
- Personally, I was bored to death.
drink, laugh, shout, etc. yourself silly
- (informal) to drink, laugh, shout, etc. so much that you cannot behave in a sensible way
play (silly) games (with somebody)
- to not be honest with somebody, especially in order to gain an advantage over them
- Don't play silly games with me; I know you did it.
play silly buggers
- (British English, informal) to behave in a stupid and annoying way
- Stop playing silly buggers and give me a hand with this!
Check pronunciation:
silly