I. jol ‧ ly 1 /ˈdʒɒli $ ˈdʒɑːli/ BrE AmE adjective especially British English
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: joli 'happy, pretty' ]
1 . happy and enjoying yourself:
Everybody was in a very relaxed and jolly mood.
2 . old-fashioned very pleasant and enjoyable:
We had a jolly time with the family.
II. jolly 2 BrE AmE adverb British English old-fashioned informal
1 . very:
Sounds like a jolly good idea to me.
It was all jolly good fun.
2 . jolly well used to emphasize an opinion or to show that you are annoyed:
Right, I’m going to clear up, and you can jolly well help me.
3 . jolly good! spoken used to say that you are pleased by what someone has just said
III. jolly 3 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle jollied , present participle jollying , jollies ) British English
jolly somebody along phrasal verb
to try to make someone do something faster by encouraging them:
He jollied people along and got useful information out of them.
jolly somebody into something phrasal verb informal
to gently persuade someone to do something:
She jollied the children into going for a walk.
jolly something ↔ up phrasal verb
to make an event or place more pleasant or exciting