What does silly mean?

Definitions for silly
ˈsɪl isil·ly

Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word silly.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. silly(adj)

    a word used for misbehaving children

    "don't be a silly"

  2. cockamamie, cockamamy, goofy, sappy, silly, wacky, whacky, zany(adj)

    ludicrous, foolish


  3. airheaded, dizzy, empty-headed, featherbrained, giddy, light-headed, lightheaded, silly(adj)

    lacking seriousness; given to frivolity

    "a dizzy blonde"; "light-headed teenagers"; "silly giggles"

  4. pathetic, ridiculous, silly(adj)

    inspiring scornful pity

    "how silly an ardent and unsuccessful wooer can be especially if he is getting on in years"- Dashiell Hammett

  5. punch-drunk, silly, slaphappy(adj)

    dazed from or as if from repeated blows

    "knocked silly by the impact"; "slaphappy with exhaustion"


  1. silly(Noun)

    A silly person; a fool.

  2. silly(Noun)

    A mistake.

  3. silly(Adjective)

    Pitiable; deserving of compassion; helpless.

  4. silly(Adjective)

    Simple, unsophisticated, ordinary; rustic, ignorant.

  5. silly(Adjective)

    foolish, showing a lack of good sense and wisdom; frivolous, trifling.

    I made a very silly mistake.

  6. silly(Adjective)

    irresponsible, showing irresponsible behaviors.

    What a silly kid, he's always getting in trouble.

  7. silly(Adjective)

    playful, giggly.

    The newlyweds called each other silly little nicknames.

  8. silly(Adjective)

    semiconscious, witless.

    The impact of the ball knocked him silly.

  9. silly(Adjective)

    of a fielding position, very close to the batsman; closer than short

  10. silly(Adjective)

    simple, not intelligent, refined.

    John was prosperous and his helpless, silly father could be of no use to him.

  11. Origin: Phonetic variant of seely.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Silly(noun)

    happy; fortunate; blessed

  2. Silly(noun)

    harmless; innocent; inoffensive

  3. Silly(noun)

    weak; helpless; frail

  4. Silly(noun)

    rustic; plain; simple; humble

  5. Silly(noun)

    weak in intellect; destitute of ordinary strength of mind; foolish; witless; simple; as, a silly woman

  6. Silly(noun)

    proceeding from want of understanding or common judgment; characterized by weakness or folly; unwise; absurd; stupid; as, silly conduct; a silly question


  1. Silly

    Silly is a German rock band. Founded in East Germany in the year 1978, Silly was one of the country's most popular music acts, and was well known for its charismatic lead singer Tamara Danz. Her death in 1996 ended the band's recording career for 14 years. In 2005 the surviving members began to perform as Silly again, first with several guest singers, before choosing actress Anna Loos to replace Danz. The first album with the new line-up, Alles Rot, became the band's most successful to date, reaching number 3 on the German charts in 2010.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Silly

    sil′i, adj. simple: harmless: foolish: witless: imprudent: absurd: stupid.—n. a silly person.—adv. Sill′ily.—ns. Sill′iness; Sill′y-how, a caul. [Orig. 'blessed,' and so 'innocent,' 'simple,' A.S. sǽlig, gesælig, timely—sǽl, time; Ger. selig, blest, happy, Goth. sels, good.]

Suggested Resources

  1. silly

    Song lyrics by silly -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by silly on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'silly' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4120

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'silly' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1117

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'silly' in Adjectives Frequency: #465

Anagrams for silly »

  1. slily

  2. yills

  3. silyl


  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of silly in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of silly in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of silly in a Sentence

  1. Steve Perillo:

    It was a silly thing.

  2. Justice Antonin Scalia:

    It's a silly way to read them.

  3. Laura Calderwood:

    I just think about silly things.

  4. Siddharth Astir:

    Only smart people can make silly mistakes.

  5. Shana Verstegen:

    It sounds absolutely silly, but it's a serious sport.

Images & Illustrations of silly

  1. sillysillysilly

Popularity rank by frequency of use


Translations for silly

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for silly »


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"silly." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2019. Web. 25 Apr. 2019. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/silly>.

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