sillier; silliest
1
2
: being stunned or dazed
scared silly
knocked me silly
3
1
informal
: to an extreme degree
was scared silly
bored silly
2
: in a silly manner : in an absurd or ridiculous way
talking/behaving silly
Benny Hill just walked silly, period, usually at high speed, to the accompaniment of cheesy pop music …—
Charles Isherwood
Charles Isherwood
plural sillies
: one who is silly : a foolish person
"But there," she told herself, "I am very likely a silly—meeting trouble half-way."—D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence"Well then, silly, why not stay!"—Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber"And who, then? Oh, the long line of sillies, light-weights, rakes, ne'er-do-wells, who … constituted society."—Theodore Dreiser
Theodore DreiserWhen the narrator describes women directly they seem … innately either sentimental sillies … or … pious hypocrites.—Myra Jehlen
Myra JehlenExamples of silly in a Sentence
Adjective
I hope I didn't make any silly mistakes.
The idea does seem a bit silly.
That's the silliest thing I've ever heard.
You drove in this weather? What a silly thing to do!
Silly me. I locked myself out of the car again.
Ask a silly question, and you get a silly answer.
“I can't ask you to do that.” “Don't be silly. It is my pleasure.”
What a silly little purse. It looks too small to hold everything that I'd need to carry.
I'm tired of watching silly movies.
The book was a silly waste of time.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025
This is one where the visual spectacle and weird fourth-wall-breaking sections stand head and shoulders above everything else, making for an extremely memorable adventure that embraces the silly side of Doctor Who.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025
Ryan Fleming, Deadline, 13 Dec. 2024
Ragtime has its moments of gripping drama and violence, but much of what’s stitching all this together gets silly fast if, as is the case here, there isn’t a solid intention in the binding.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
Ego Nwodim, TIME, 12 Feb. 2025
Some more sillies from last night’s GRAMMY nominees reception.
—Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 4 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for silly
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Adjective
But silly things like feelings and mental health don't matter to rebellion leader Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), who wants results at any cost.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025
This is one where the visual spectacle and weird fourth-wall-breaking sections stand head and shoulders above everything else, making for an extremely memorable adventure that embraces the silly side of Doctor Who.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025
Adverb
There’s always a funny result drawing when something bad happens to the character or something silly happens.
—Ryan Fleming, Deadline, 13 Dec. 2024
Ragtime has its moments of gripping drama and violence, but much of what’s stitching all this together gets silly fast if, as is the case here, there isn’t a solid intention in the binding.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
It was shot in portrait because it was shot in Instagram by and for a woman who was losing her mind in quarantine and had fully let the sillies take the wheel.
—Ego Nwodim, TIME, 12 Feb. 2025
Some more sillies from last night’s GRAMMY nominees reception.
—Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 4 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for silly
Cite this Entry
“Silly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silly. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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