silly

Less common meanings

7. 7
   mistakenouncolloquialcountable

   A mistake or error.

   The accountant caught a silly in the spreadsheet before the report went out.

   I made a silly on the last question and lost two easy points on the test.

   Similarmistake, error, blunder, slip

8. 8
   dazedadjective

   Stunned, dazed, or senseless, as from a blow or a sudden shock.

   The punch in the second round knocked the boxer silly.

   The fall from the ladder knocked him silly, and for a minute he could not remember where he was.

   UsageUsually after a verb: knocked silly, scared silly, bored silly.

   Similarsenseless, dazed, stunned

   Note

   It describes the state a blow or shock leaves you in, and it usually comes after a verb: knocked silly, scared silly, drinking myself silly. That resultative pattern has spread from the literal daze of a punch to any excess. When a character in the 1990 House of Cards proposes they 'shag ourselves silly', the phrase simply means 'to excess'. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The cited House of Cards television series dates from 1990. en.wikipedia.org
   • A character proposes that they 'shag ourselves silly'. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   cricket (close)adjective

   Of a fielding position in cricket: very close to the batter, nearer to the bat than the positions described as short.

   The captain brought a fielder in to silly point to crowd the nervous new batter.

   A sharp catch at silly mid-on ended the innings.

   UsageUsed before the names of fielding positions: silly point, silly mid-on.

   Note

   In cricket it works as a prefix on the names of fielding positions: silly point, silly mid-on and the like. Each such position sits nearer the bat than its short counterpart, so the scale runs from the plain position through short to silly, the closest of all. Older reports hyphenate the name. The Notts. Guardian of 1862 places a fielder 'at silly-point'. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Silly precedes fielding-position names as a distance modifier. en.wikipedia.org
   • Silly point is a cricket fielding position very near the batter. en.wiktionary.org
   • Silly mid-on is a cricket fielding position very near the batter. en.wiktionary.org
   • Short positions are closer than their ordinary counterparts, and silly positions are closer still. en.wiktionary.org
   • An 1862 Notts. Guardian report uses the hyphenated name in the phrase 'at silly-point'. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    adjectiverare

    Rustic and plain; simple and unrefined in a countryside fashion.

    Dauid had no more but a sylie slynge, and a few stones.

    1570, John Foxe, Actes & Monumentes

    Similarplain, simple, rustic, humble

    Oppositefancy

    Note

    Plainness without contempt is the note here. John Foxe's Actes & Monumentes says David had 'no more but a sylie slynge, and a few stones', meaning a homely weapon, not a foolish one. Where the 'humble station' meaning ranks people, this one describes things that are simple and unadorned. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • John Foxe's Actes & Monumentes contains the quoted description of David's sling. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation illustrates the rustic or homely sense, distinct from the sense denoting humble social station. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    adjectiveobsolete

    Rustic, uneducated, or unlearned; lacking schooling or book learning.

    From Hell (of which the silly people of the Country think the top of this hill to be the mouth).

    1687, Jean de Thévenot, The Travels of Monsieur de Thevenot into the Levant

    Note

    Lack of schooling is the meaning, and here simple begins sliding toward foolish. Archibald Lovell's 1687 translation of Thévenot's Travels mentions 'the silly people of the Country' who believe a hilltop is the mouth of Hell. They are unlearned country folk, and their credulity is already part of the picture. The sense is obsolete, but it shows the bridge between humble station and poor judgment. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Archibald Lovell translated Thévenot's Travels. wellcomecollection.org
    • The first edition of the English translation was published in 1687. famineanddearth.exeter.ac.uk
    • The translation contains 'the silly people of the Country' and describes their belief that the hilltop is Hell's mouth. en.wiktionary.org
    • The example illustrates the sense 'rustic, uneducated, or unlearned'; their stated belief supports the interpretation of credulity. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    adjectiveobsolete

    Lowly or of humble station; belonging to the lower ranks of society.

    The silly herdman all astonnied standes.

    a. 1547, the Earl of Surrey translating Publius Virgilius Maro, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aeneis

    So luvaris lair no leid suld lak, A lord to lufe a silly lass.

    1568, Alexander Scott, Poems

    Note

    Social rank, not intelligence, is the point here: a silly herdman or silly lass is simply low-born. The Earl of Surrey's Virgil, printed in 1557, has "the silly herdman all astonnied", and Alexander Scott, in a poem preserved in the Bannatyne Manuscript (1568), imagines "a lord to lufe a silly lass". The word drifted from Old English "lucky" through "innocent" and "naive" to "foolish", and this humble sense sits on that road. This lowly sense is now obsolete.

13. 13
    adjectiveobsoleteScotland

    Holy, blessed, or pious; good and devout.

    The sylyman lay and herde, / And hys wyf answerd.

    a. 1450, Seven Sages, line 1361

    Note

    Here the word stands closest to its root. Old English sǣliġ meant 'lucky, fortunate' and was built on seel, 'happiness, bliss'. Seelie is the same word reached by another road. From lucky the meaning slid to innocent, then naive, then foolish. When Robert Rollock wrote around 1600 of 'the silly ones of Jesus Christ', he meant the faithful, not fools, which is a trap for any modern reader of older Scots. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Old English sǣliġ meant 'lucky, fortunate'. en.wiktionary.org
    • The word's formation corresponds to seel, meaning 'happiness, bliss', plus an adjectival suffix. en.wiktionary.org
    • Seelie and silly descend from the same word through different linguistic routes. en.wiktionary.org
    • The semantic development ran from lucky through innocent and naive to foolish. en.wiktionary.org
    • Rollock's lectures contain 'the silly ones of Jesus Christ'. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation illustrates the good or pious sense rather than the foolish sense. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    adjectivedialectalScotland

    Having an intellectual disability; of significantly limited mental capacity or development.

    Davie's no just like other folk... but he's no sae silly as folk tak him for.

    1814, Waverley, Walter Scott
15. 15
    adjectivedialectalNorthern EnglandScotland

    Helpless, innocent, or pitiable; defenseless and deserving sympathy, said especially of lambs and sheep.

    There remained fresh Examples of their Barbarism against weak Sea-men, and silly Fisher-men.

    1665, Hugo Grotius, De Rebus Belgicis
16. 16
    adjectivedialectalNorthern EnglandScotland

    Weak, feeble, or frail; of people, sickly or infirm; of things, flimsy or fragile.

    That'll never grow. It's ower silly.

    1946, Scottish National Dictionary, published 1971