Word Direct Answers

What does "silly" mean?

Silly: Harmless; innocent; inoffensive. [Obs.] "This silly, innocent Custance." Chaucer. The silly virgin strove him to withstand. Spenser. A silly, innocent hare murdered of a dog. Robynson (More's Utopia).

Additional senses

  1. 2.Weak; helpless; frail. [Obs.] After long storms . . . With which my silly bark was tossed sore. Spenser. The silly buckets on the deck. Coleridge.
  2. 3.Rustic; plain; simple; humble. [Obs.] A fourth man, in a sillyhabit. Shak. All that did their silly thoughts so busy keep. Milton.
  3. 4.Weak in intellect; destitute of ordinary strength of mind; foolish; witless; simple; as, a silly woman.
  4. 5.Proceeding from want of understanding or common judgment; characterized by weakness or folly; unwise; absurd; stupid; as, silly conduct; a silly question. See Simple.

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