I. sil ‧ ly 1 S2 /ˈsɪli/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative sillier , superlative silliest )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sælig 'happy' ]
1 . not sensible, or showing bad judgment:
Stop asking silly questions.
You made a lot of silly mistakes.
I left my keys at home, which was a pretty silly thing to do.
‘Shall we go for a walk?’ ‘Don’t be silly, it’s dark.’
2 . stupid in a ↑ childish or embarrassing way:
I feel so silly in this outfit.
a silly hat
I hate their parties – we always end up playing silly games.
3 . spoken not serious or practical:
They served us coffee in these silly little cups.
4 . bore somebody silly informal to make someone extremely bored
5 . drink/laugh/scare etc yourself silly informal to drink or laugh etc so much that you stop behaving sensibly
—silliness noun [uncountable]
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THESAURUS
▪ stupid showing a total lack of good sense or good judgment. Stupid sounds very strong and is often used when you are annoyed or strongly criticizing someone’s behaviour:
I wish you’d stop asking stupid questions.
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It was stupid of me to leave the door unlocked.
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Well, if you’re stupid enough to skate on the lake, you deserve to fall in.
▪ silly doing or saying things that are not sensible or serious, and that may make you feel embarrassed later. Silly sounds much gentler than stupid :
a silly mistake
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Don’t be so silly! There’s nothing wrong with you.
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I think you’re silly to worry so much about your hair.
▪ daft informal not sensible, often in a way that is also amusing:
Is this another of your daft ideas?
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Don’t be daft! Of course you’re not too old to go clubbing.
▪ dumb informal especially American English stupid:
a dumb question
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He was dumb enough to believe her.
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Oh, I just did the dumbest thing back there, I forgot my purse.
▪ foolish stupid. Foolish sounds rather formal and is used mainly in written English. The usual words to use in everyday English are silly or stupid :
It was a foolish thing to say.
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They did not want to look foolish.
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It was all a foolish dream.
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I think the board of directors made a foolish choice that it will later regret.
▪ unwise formal done without thinking carefully enough about the possible disadvantages that may result:
She knew the marriage was unwise.
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an unwise choice of words
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It would be very unwise to speculate.
▪ brave British English often humorous used when you think that what someone is planning or suggesting is certain to fail, but you do not want to say directly that they are behaving in a stupid way:
The leader of the opposition described it as ‘a brave decision.’
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I think he’s being very brave.
II. silly 2 BrE AmE noun spoken
used to tell someone that you think they are not behaving sensibly:
No, silly, I didn’t mean that.