Word forms: comparative sillier, superlative silliest
1. adjective
If you say that someone or something is silly, you mean that they are foolish, childish, or ridiculous.
My best friend tells me that I am silly to be upset about this.
You silly boy; why did you tramp about so long in the cold?
I thought it would be silly to be too rude at that stage.
That's a silly question.
...a silly hat.
sillinessuncountable noun
She looked round to make sure there was no giggling or silliness.
2. adjective [verb noun ADJECTIVE]
If you do something such as laugh or drink yourselfsilly, you do it so much that you are unable to think or behave sensibly.
[informal]
Poor Donald's been worrying himself silly.
Synonyms: senseless, stupid, numb, into oblivion More Synonyms of silly
More Synonyms of silly
silly in British English
(ˈsɪlɪ)
adjectiveWord forms: -lier or -liest
1.
lacking in good sense; absurd
2.
frivolous, trivial, or superficial
3.
dazed, as from a blow
4. obsolete
homely or humble
noun
5. (modifier) cricket
(of a fielding position) near the batsman's wicket
silly mid-on
6. Also called: silly-billyWord forms: plural-lies informal
a foolish person
Derived forms
silliness (ˈsilliness)
noun
Word origin
C15 (in the sense: pitiable, hence the later senses: foolish): from Old English sǣlig (unattested) happy, from sǣl happiness; related to Gothic sēls good
4. Cricket(of a fielder or the fielder's playing position)
extremely close to the batsman's wicket
silly mid off
5. archaic
rustic; plain; homely
6. archaic
weak; helpless
7. obsolete
lowly in rank or state; humble
noun
8. informal
a silly or foolish person
Don't be such a silly
Derived forms
sillily
adverb
silliness
noun
Word origin
[1375–1425; earlier sylie, sillie foolish, simple, pitiful; late ME syly, var. of selyseely]
Examples of 'silly' in a sentence
silly
Have some dignity you silly old fool.
The Sun (2012)
This car is as sensible as its name is silly.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
You will not see any old rubbish selling at silly money.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
To some it will come across as childish and silly but it had me in stitches.
The Sun (2011)
You have no right to expect an answer to a silly question.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
They have turned their competition into a silly little circus.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
We have to face the match with focus and concentration but without doing silly things.
The Sun (2010)
What we do is call the office and say something silly.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
That silly stipulation has now been relaxed and trade has improved as a result.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
On his next tour he bought a silly hat.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Ask silly questions and make silly suggestions.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
That all things silly or frivolous have no right to exist.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Yet he did look a bit silly in his suit.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Do not dismiss the cruise collections for having a silly name.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
There is a school of thought that says scented candles are a silly waste of money.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It makes me childish and silly and excited.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
This is not as silly a question as it sounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The whole episode now looks a little silly.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
It was a silly thing for him to do but he only pushes him in the chest.
The Sun (2012)
One early game was interrupted after an unexploded land mine was discovered at silly mid-on.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
silly
British English: silly /ˈsɪlɪ/ ADJECTIVE
Someone who is being silly is behaving in a foolish or childish way.
She thinks that I am being silly.
American English: silly
Arabic: أَبْلَه
Brazilian Portuguese: bobo
Chinese: 愚蠢的
Croatian: šašav
Czech: hloupý
Danish: dum
Dutch: dwaas
European Spanish: tonto ingenuo
Finnish: tyhmä
French: bête
German: albern
Greek: χαζός
Italian: sciocco
Japanese: 愚かな
Korean: 어리석은
Norwegian: tøysete
Polish: głupi
European Portuguese: idiota
Romanian: neghiob
Russian: глупый
Latin American Spanish: tonto
Swedish: fånig
Thai: โง่
Turkish: aptalca
Ukrainian: дурний
Vietnamese: ngớ ngẩn
All related terms of 'silly'
silly-billy
lacking in good sense; absurd
silly joke
A joke is something that is said or done to make you laugh, for example a funny story.
silly money
an absurdly large or, less commonly , small amount of money
Silly Putty
a rubbery substance of silicone oil and boric acid, used as a plaything : it stretches, snaps apart into pieces, bounces , shapes easily, etc.
silly season
The silly season is the time around August when the newspapers are full of unimportant or silly news stories because there is not much political news to report .
play silly buggers
to fool around and waste time
dilly
a person or thing that is remarkable
sillier
lacking in good sense; absurd
sillies
lacking in good sense; absurd
too silly for words/too stupid for words
You can use expressions such as too silly for words and too ridiculous for words to emphasize that someone or something is extremely silly or ridiculous.
Chinese translation of 'silly'
silly
(ˈsɪlɪ)
adj
[person]愚蠢的 (yúchǔn de)
[idea, object]可笑的 (kěxiào de)
he's silly to be upset他这(這)么(麼)难(難)过(過)真是太傻了 (tā zhème nánguò zhēnshi tài shǎ le)
it would be silly to waste it把它浪费(費)了就太愚蠢了 (bǎ tā làngfèile jiù tài yúchǔn le)