silly

silly
silly O.E. gesælig "happy" (related to sæl "happiness"), from W.Gmc. *sæligas (Cf. O.N. sæll "happy," Goth. sels "good, kindhearted," O.S. salig, M.Du. salich, O.H.G. salig, Ger. selig "blessed, happy, blissful"), from PIE root *sel- "happy" (Cf. L. solari "to comfort").
The word's considerable sense development moved from "blessed" to "pious," to "innocent" (c.1200), to "harmless," to "pitiable" (late 13c.), to "weak" (c.1300), to "feeble in mind, lacking in reason, foolish" (1570s). Further tendency toward "stunned, dazed as by a blow" (1886) in knocked silly, etc. Silly season in journalism slang is from 1861 (August and September, when newspapers compensate for a lack of hard news by filling up with trivial stories). Silly Putty trademark claims use from July 1949.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Silly — Sil ly, a. [Compar. {Sillier}; superl. {Silliest}.] [OE. seely, sely, AS. s?lig, ges?lig, happy, good, fr. s?l, s?l, good, happy, s?l good fortune, happines; akin to OS. s[=a]lig, a, good, happy, D. zalig blessed, G. selig, OHG. s[=a]l[=i]g, Icel …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • silly — [sil′ē] adj. sillier, silliest [ME seli, sili (with shortened vowel), good, blessed, innocent < OE sælig, happy, prosperous, blessed (akin to Ger selig, blessed) < sæl, happiness < IE base * sel , favorable, in good spirits (> Gr… …   English World dictionary

  • Silly — Silly, in addition to its dictionary definitions, may refer to: * Silly, Belgium, a town in Belgium * Silly (band), an East German rock group from the 1970s …   Wikipedia

  • Silly — Le nom est surtout porté dans l Eure et Loir. Il désigne celui qui est originaire de Silly (ou Sillé), nom de plusieurs communes et de divers hameaux. Dans cette région, on pensera notamment à la commune de Silly en Gouffern (61). Sens probable… …   Noms de famille

  • silly — ► ADJECTIVE (sillier, silliest) 1) lacking in common sense or judgement; foolish. 2) trivial or frivolous. 3) Cricket denoting fielding positions very close to the batsman: silly mid on. ► NOUN (pl. sillies) informal ▪ …   English terms dictionary

  • Silly — Silly, Dorf im Arrondissement Soignies der belgischen Provinz Hennegau; 2600 Ew …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • silly — index fatuous, frivolous, inept (inappropriate), ludicrous, puerile, superficial, vacuous Burton s Legal …   Law dictionary

  • silly — 1 *simple, foolish, fatuous, asinine Analogous words: *irrational, unreasonable: *stupid, slow, dull, dense, crass, dumb: vacuous, *empty 2 *foolish, absurd, preposterous …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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