silly

Definition

Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.

Etymology

From Middle English seely, sēlī, from Old English sǣliġ, ġesǣliġ (“lucky, fortunate”), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg, from *sāli; equivalent to seel (“happiness, bliss”) + -y. Doublet of Seelie. The semantic evolution is “lucky” to “innocent” to “naive” to “foolish”. Compare the similar evolution of daft (originally meaning “accommodating”), and almost the reverse with nice (originally meaning “ignorant”).

Example Sentences

• "They were laughing at a silly joke."
• "silly grin"
• "This is the silliest stuffe, that euer I heard."