silly

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   dazed from or as if from repeated blows

   knocked silly by the impact

2. 2
   adj

   inspiring scornful pity

   The wooer seemed especially silly since they were getting on in years.

3. 3
   noun

   a word used for misbehaving children

   don't be a silly

4. 4
   adj

   Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.

   They were laughing at a silly joke.

5. 5
   adj

   Blessed

   The sylyman lay and herde, / And hys wyf answerd.

6. 6
   adj

   Pitiful, inspiring compassion, particularly

   The fire raging upon the silly Carcase.

7. 7
   adj

   Pitiful, inspiring compassion

   There is no best in þe word, I wene... / That suffuris halfe so myche tene / As doth þe sylly wat.

8. 8
   adj

   Simple, plain

   Dauid had no more but a sylie slynge, and a few stones.

Etymology

From Middle English seely, sēlī, from Old English sǣliġ, ġesǣliġ (“lucky, fortunate”), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg, from *sāli; equivalent to seel (“happiness, bliss”) + -y. Doublet of Seelie. The semantic evolution is “lucky” to “innocent” to “naive” to “foolish”. Compare the similar evolution of daft (originally meaning “accommodating”), and almost the reverse with nice (originally meaning “ignorant”).