jollied; jollying
: to engage in good-natured banter
jollied and joked with sailors in the street—
Dixon Wecter
Dixon Wecter
: to put or try to put in good humor especially to gain an end
try to pay for their entertainment by jollying us along—S. E. White
S. E. WhiteSynonyms
Adjective
Adverb
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Noun
Verb
Examples of jolly in a Sentence
Adjective
Our boss was a very jolly man, always laughing.
She had a jolly time at the party.
Adverb
“I've finished my assignment.” “Jolly good!”
She learned to be jolly careful in his presence.
Verb
spent their nights around the campfire good-naturedly jollying and telling scary stories
Recent Examples on the WebThe Arizona Republic, 23 Mar. 2024
But the best deal of all is night skiing with all the jolly locals with a Friday night ticket for just five bucks.
—Todd Plummer, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024
To make for an even better picture-perfect moment, Ballerini and Stokes dressed up their respective pups Dibs (Ballerini’s) and Milo (Stoke’s) in canine versions of their jolly jammies.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 27 Dec. 2023
Ideally, players should also like children, exhibit a generous spirit and possess a jolly sense of humor.
—Bill Swank, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Dec. 2023
The jolliest time of year is also smack dab in the middle of cold and flu season.
—Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 14 Dec. 2023
In the end, however, the story mingled Westwood’s roguish aesthetic sensibility with a whirlwind tour of Tokyo—a place where the designer’s most provocative work has resonated for decades—starring a jolly band of models, chefs, floral artists, bonsai masters, musicians, and content creators.
—Theo Liu, Vogue, 22 Aug. 2023
Like many travelers, the Cardinals hope to have a jolly time in London.
—Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 22 June 2023
Writers, actors, and hella fans donned their jolliest Rogers and demanded at least as good treatment for the writers as pirates on a pirate ship.
—Vulture, 20 June 2023
Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 2 Apr. 2024
Plus, with festive Christmas cheesecake recipes like Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake, Gingerbread Cheesecake, and Red Velvet Cheesecake, your menu will stay holly jolly.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 5 Mar. 2024
Dan’s Irish Sports Bar, Walnut Creek This Irish watering hole is so popular, nearly every seat at the lengthy bar was already occupied by mid-afternoon on a recent Tuesday, and a crew of jolly old-timers was playing Liar’s Dice with the bartender.
—Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2024
Live Coverage Feed 3 hours ago Heard on the Street Recap: The Night Before the Santa Rally
Markets are in a jolly mood again.
—Heard Editors, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2023
Provide a calm space for your pet amid loud crowds
'Tis the season to be jolly!
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 18 Dec. 2023
Fellow Full House alum Lori Loughlin, as well as Chad Michael Murray and Matthew Morrison are some of the other Hollywood stars featured in this year's jolly good times.
—EW.com, 21 Nov. 2023
This town loves Christmas so much that it's named after jolly ol' Saint Nick himself.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 30 Oct. 2023
Some judges already find AI ‘jolly useful’ despite accuracy concerns
The new guidance comes three months after a UK court of appeal judge Lord Justice Birss used ChatGPT to provide a summary of an area of law and then used part of that summary to write a verdict.
—Popular Science, 13 Dec. 2023
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024
Sunday was a tough day for those, like me, who get their entertainment jollies by watching losers try to redeem themselves.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2024
Audiences began to take notice of this less-than-jolly movie that flooded the airways at Christmas time, and thus a holiday tradition was born.
—Rachael Scott, CNN, 25 Dec. 2021
The Economist, 21 Sep. 2019
So Watt sets out to convince them that the real killer is Peter Manuel by — wait for it! — taking him out on a bender and jollying him into a confession.
—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times, 19 May 2017
Adjective
Children are encouraged to dress up in costumes — usually representing characters in the story — to synergize with the jolly ambiance of the holiday.
—The Arizona Republic, 23 Mar. 2024
But the best deal of all is night skiing with all the jolly locals with a Friday night ticket for just five bucks.
—Todd Plummer, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024
To make for an even better picture-perfect moment, Ballerini and Stokes dressed up their respective pups Dibs (Ballerini’s) and Milo (Stoke’s) in canine versions of their jolly jammies.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 27 Dec. 2023
Ideally, players should also like children, exhibit a generous spirit and possess a jolly sense of humor.
—Bill Swank, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Dec. 2023
The jolliest time of year is also smack dab in the middle of cold and flu season.
—Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 14 Dec. 2023
In the end, however, the story mingled Westwood’s roguish aesthetic sensibility with a whirlwind tour of Tokyo—a place where the designer’s most provocative work has resonated for decades—starring a jolly band of models, chefs, floral artists, bonsai masters, musicians, and content creators.
—Theo Liu, Vogue, 22 Aug. 2023
Like many travelers, the Cardinals hope to have a jolly time in London.
—Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 22 June 2023
Writers, actors, and hella fans donned their jolliest Rogers and demanded at least as good treatment for the writers as pirates on a pirate ship.
—Vulture, 20 June 2023
Adverb
But unlike in the show, the characters in the videos aren’t singing jolly songs about life in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom.
—Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 2 Apr. 2024
Plus, with festive Christmas cheesecake recipes like Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake, Gingerbread Cheesecake, and Red Velvet Cheesecake, your menu will stay holly jolly.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 5 Mar. 2024
Dan’s Irish Sports Bar, Walnut Creek This Irish watering hole is so popular, nearly every seat at the lengthy bar was already occupied by mid-afternoon on a recent Tuesday, and a crew of jolly old-timers was playing Liar’s Dice with the bartender.
—Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2024
Live Coverage Feed 3 hours ago Heard on the Street Recap: The Night Before the Santa Rally
Markets are in a jolly mood again.
—Heard Editors, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2023
Provide a calm space for your pet amid loud crowds
'Tis the season to be jolly!
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 18 Dec. 2023
Fellow Full House alum Lori Loughlin, as well as Chad Michael Murray and Matthew Morrison are some of the other Hollywood stars featured in this year's jolly good times.
—EW.com, 21 Nov. 2023
This town loves Christmas so much that it's named after jolly ol' Saint Nick himself.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 30 Oct. 2023
Some judges already find AI ‘jolly useful’ despite accuracy concerns
The new guidance comes three months after a UK court of appeal judge Lord Justice Birss used ChatGPT to provide a summary of an area of law and then used part of that summary to write a verdict.
—Popular Science, 13 Dec. 2023
Noun
The 4Chan programmers got their viral sensation and their jollies.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024
Sunday was a tough day for those, like me, who get their entertainment jollies by watching losers try to redeem themselves.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2024
Audiences began to take notice of this less-than-jolly movie that flooded the airways at Christmas time, and thus a holiday tradition was born.
—Rachael Scott, CNN, 25 Dec. 2021
Verb
As to the political will needed to jolly the process along, and arrange payment for those parts of the programme that will not pay for themselves, this can push both ways.
—The Economist, 21 Sep. 2019
So Watt sets out to convince them that the real killer is Peter Manuel by — wait for it! — taking him out on a bender and jollying him into a confession.
—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times, 19 May 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jolly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Dictionary Entries Near jolly
Cite this Entry
“Jolly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jolly. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
jolly
2 of 2 adverb
: very entry 2 sense 1
a jolly good time
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