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sil·ly

silly

pronunciation:: sI li
features:: Word History, Word Explorer

part of speech:	adjective
inflections:	sillier, silliest
definition 1:	without good sense; foolish. He was silly enough to look in the refrigerator for his hat.Silly ideas sometimes turn out to be good ideas. synonyms: dumb, foolish antonyms: sensible similar words: crazy, dizzy, ridiculous, stupid
definition 2:	not serious or making logical sense. The baby loves it when her dad makes silly faces.The children love to sing silly songs. synonyms: crazy, frivolous, giddy antonyms: dignified similar words: absurd, dizzy, ridiculous
related words:	childish, laughable, playful
derivations:	sillily (adv.), silliness (n.)

Word History

The meaning of silly has changed many times over the centuries. In the 1200s, it meant "happy, fortunate, or holy." It then came to mean "innocent," and then "helpless or weak." By the 1500s, it was used to mean "simple, ignorant, or foolish."

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