Synonyms of silliness

silliness

noun

1

as in insanity

lack of good sense or judgment

she was both amused and irritated by the silliness of his comments regarding the movie they has just seen

Synonyms & Similar Words

• insanity
• madness
• simplicity
• absurdity
• craziness
• wackiness
• zaniness
• daftness
• foolishness
• fatuousness
• preposterousness
• inanity
• nuttiness
• unwisdom
• lunacy
• dottiness
• imbecility
• witlessness
• stupidness
• asininity
• brainlessness
• nonsensicalness
• folly
• idiocy
• stupidity
• fatuity
• senselessness
• balminess
• ridiculousness
• obtuseness
• dullness
• slowness
• simpleness
• irrationality
• dumbness
• mindlessness
• unreasonableness
• dippiness
• feeblemindedness
• dopiness
• simplemindedness
• oafishness
• denseness
• kookiness
• weirdness
• doltishness
• ludicrousness
• fallacy
• vacuity
• gormlessness
• dim-wittedness
• laughableness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wisdom
• sanity
• prudence
• sagacity
• soundness
• validity
• rationality
• reasonableness
• sapience
• sensibleness
• logicality
• reasonability
• insight
• perception
• sagaciousness
• discernment
• sageness
• logicalness
• rationalness
• percipience

2

as in nonsense

language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense

stop this silliness at once!

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nonsense
• stupidity
• nuts
• garbage
• absurdity
• blah
• craziness
• rubbish
• drool
• absurdness
• foolishness
• insanity
• jazz
• muck
• madness
• bunk
• hokum
• twaddle
• claptrap
• balderdash
• guff
• piffle
• humbuggery
• hogwash
• trash
• baloney
• malarkey
• bunkum
• beans
• trumpery
• poppycock
• punk
• folderol
• rot
• blither
• flapdoodle
• hooey
• blather
• bilge
• tosh
• fudge
• fiddle
• idiocy
• tommyrot
• fiddlesticks
• folly
• bull
• drivel
• crock
• senselessness
• bosh
• blatherskite
• codswallop
• hokeypokey
• blarney
• crapola
• nerts
• kookiness
• humbug
• fiddle-faddle
• applesauce
• horsefeathers
• taradiddle
• inanity
• hoodoo
• tomfoolery
• moonshine
• lunacy
• flannel
• imbecility
• foolery
• asininity
• slush
• witlessness
• fatuity
• rigmarole
• inaneness
• gas
• greek
• monkey business
• hocus-pocus
• hot air
• shenanigan(s)
• double-talk
• hoity-toity
• monkeyshine(s)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rationality
• reasonableness
• sense
• common sense
• sensibleness
• reasonability
• levelheadedness
• wisdom
• judgment
• horse sense
• discernment

3

as in lightness

a lack of seriousness often at an improper time

this inability to refrain from silliness is a distressing sign of professional immaturity

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lightness
• glee
• cheerfulness
• frivolity
• levity
• flippancy
• frivolousness
• facetiousness
• cheer
• festivity
• goofiness
• childishness
• mirth
• hilarity
• flightiness
• lightheartedness
• joviality
• frothiness
• merriment
• light-headedness
• light-mindedness
• mirthfulness
• gaiety
• gleefulness
• puerility
• high-spiritedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• seriousness
• gravity
• earnestness
• solemnity
• soberness
• sadness
• melancholy
• unhappiness
• gloom
• solemnness
• depression
• dejection
• sullenness
• gloominess
• moroseness
• despondency
• joylessness
• heartsickness
• dispiritedness
• downheartedness
• mopes

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of silliness

This bit of silliness was originally featured in the Win Column, the AJC’s daily sports newsletter. — Rahul Deshpande, AJC.com, 16 Sep. 2026

Its silliness, therefore, cannot have the emotional impact of the chicken-talk scene in Bocking, or the hot-dogs-as-fingers segment in the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once. — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026

Someone to look up to, a glorious basket of positivity, fun and silliness. — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 10 Sep. 2026

Today’s crossword, constructed by Sunny Maharjan in his New York Times debut, has a soupçon of similar silliness (say that three times fast). — Sam Corbin, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Some of the mayhem devolves into silliness, including a foot chase through Red Square (doubled by Budapest’s Heroes’ Square abetted with digital effects) and a vehicular chase in which Nick and Troy drive a nuclear missile launcher. — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026

Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was directed by Robert Zemeckis with animation overseen by Richard Williams, takes every aspect of itself, even the zany silliness of cartoons, completely seriously, while never losing sight of the fun. — James Grebey, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026

Despite the silliness, the episode does feature some very emotional moments for Spock. — Joe Otterson, Variety, 20 Aug. 2026

Yet despite this unease, they are also shown with occasional silliness and wit, as well as an unexpected strength to their paradoxically porcelain-like bodies. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 18 Aug. 2026