different between incautious vs silly
incautious
English
Etymology
From in- (negative prefix) +? cautious.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /?n?k???s/
- Rhymes: -????s
Adjective
incautious (comparative more incautious, superlative most incautious)
- careless, reckless, not exercising proper caution.
- 1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, Baseball Joe on the School Nine Chapter 1
- "Yes, let 'Sister' Davis have a whack at it too," urged George Bland. Tom Davis, who was Joe Matson's particular chum, was designated "Sister" because, in an incautious moment, when first coming to Excelsior Hall, he had shown a picture of his very pretty sister, Mabel.
- Synonym: uncautious
- 1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, Baseball Joe on the School Nine Chapter 1
Derived terms
- incautiously
- incautiousness
Related terms
- incaution
Translations
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silly
English
Etymology
From Middle English seely, s?l?, from Old English s?li?, ?es?li? (“blessed; fortunate”), from Proto-West Germanic *s?l?g (“blissful, happy”), from *s?li (“happy, fortunate”). Equivalent to seel (“happiness, bliss”) +? -y. Doublet of Seelie.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?s?li/
- Rhymes: -?li
- Homophone: Scilly
Adjective
silly (comparative sillier, superlative silliest)
- Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
- 1600, William Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene i, line 209:
- This is the silliest stuffe, that euer I heard.
- 1970, Graham Chapman & al., Monty Python's Flying Circus, I, 183:
- Well sir, I have a silly walk and I'd like to obtain a Government grant to help me develop it.
- (of numbers, particularly prices) Absurdly large.
- 1875 June 26, Saturday Review, 815/2:
- He cannot achieve celebrity by covering himself with diamonds... or by giving a silly price for a hack.
- 1875 June 26, Saturday Review, 815/2:
- 1600, William Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene i, line 209:
- (chiefly Scotland, obsolete) Blessed, particularly:
- Good; pious.
- a. 1450, Seven Sages, line 1361:
- The sylyman lay and herde,
And hys wyf answerd.
- The sylyman lay and herde,
- a. 1450, Seven Sages, line 1361:
- Holy.
- 1650 in 1885, W. Cramond, Church of Rathven, 21:
- ... thrie Saturdayes befor Lambas and thrie efter called the six silie Saturdayes.
- 1650 in 1885, W. Cramond, Church of Rathven, 21:
- Good; pious.
- (now chiefly Scotland and Northern England, rare) Pitiful, inspiring compassion, particularly:
- 1556 in 1880, William Henry Turner, Selections from the Records of the City of Oxford... 1509–83, 246:
- The fire raging upon the silly Carcase.
- (now literary) Innocent; suffering undeservedly, especially as an epithet of lambs and sheep.
- a. 1475, in 1925, Rossell Hope Robbins, Secular Lyrics of the 14th & 15th Centuries, 109:
- There is no best in þe word, I wene...
That suffuris halfe so myche tene
As doth þe sylly wat.
- There is no best in þe word, I wene...
- a. 1513, William Dunbar, Poems, 247:
- In the silly lambis skin He crap als far as he micht win.
- a. 1475, in 1925, Rossell Hope Robbins, Secular Lyrics of the 14th & 15th Centuries, 109:
- (now literary) Helpless, defenseless.
- scared silly
- 1539, Richard Morison translating Juan Luis Vives, Introduction to Wysedome:
- Wherfore Christe must soo moche the more instantelye be sought vpon, that he may vouchsafe to defende vs sylly wretches.
- 1665, Thomas Manley translating Hugo Grotius, De Rebus Belgicis, 938:
- There remained fresh Examples of their Barbarism against weak Sea-men, and silly Fisher-men.
- Insignificant, worthless, (chiefly Scotland) especially with regard to land quality.
- a. 1500, Robert Henryson translating Aesop, "Two Mice":
- Ane sillie scheill vnder ane erdfast stane
- 1595, William Shakespeare, The third Part of King Henry the Sixt, vvith the death of the Duke of Yorke, Act III, Scene iii, line 93:
- ...A pettigree
Of threescore and two yeares a sillie time,
To make prescription for a kingdomes worth.
- ...A pettigree
- 1907, Transactions of the Highland & Agricultural Society, 19, 172:
- It is naturally very poor, ‘silly’ land.
- a. 1500, Robert Henryson translating Aesop, "Two Mice":
- Weak, frail; flimsy (use concerning people and animals is now obsolete).
- 1567, John Maplet, A Greene Forest:
- Here we see that a smal sillie Bird knoweth how to match with so great a Beast.
- 1587, Philip Sidney & al. translating Philippe de Mornay, A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, xxxii, 596:
- [Christ] leaueth neither Children nor kinsfolke behind him to vphold his sillie kingdome.
- 1946 in 1971, Scottish National Dictionary, Vol. VIII, 234/3:
- That'll never grow. It's ower silly.
- 1567, John Maplet, A Greene Forest:
- Sickly; feeble; infirm.
- 1636, Alexander Montgomerie, The Cherrie & the Slae, line 1512:
- To doe the thing we can
To please...
This silly sickly man.
- To doe the thing we can
- 1818, Walter Scott, "Heart of Mid-Lothian", v:
- Is there ony thing you would particularly fancy, as your health seems but silly?
- 1636, Alexander Montgomerie, The Cherrie & the Slae, line 1512:
- 1556 in 1880, William Henry Turner, Selections from the Records of the City of Oxford... 1509–83, 246:
- (now rural Britain, rare) Simple, plain, particularly:
- Rustic, homely.
- 1570, John Foxe, Actes & Monumentes, Vol. II, 926/1:
- Dauid had no more but a sylie slynge, and a few stones.
- 1570, John Foxe, Actes & Monumentes, Vol. II, 926/1:
- (obsolete) Lowly, of humble station.
- a. 1547, the Earl of Surrey translating Publius Virgilius Maro, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aeneis, Book II:
- The silly herdman all astonnied standes.
- 1568, Alexander Scott, Poems, 27:
- So luvaris lair no leid suld lak,
A lord to lufe a silly lass.
- So luvaris lair no leid suld lak,
- a. 1547, the Earl of Surrey translating Publius Virgilius Maro, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aeneis, Book II:
- Rustic, homely.
- Mentally simple, foolish, particularly:
- (obsolete) Rustic, uneducated, unlearned.
- 1687, Archibald Lovell translating Jean de Thévenot, The Travels of Monsieur de Thevenot into the Levant, i, 2:
- From Hell (of which the silly people of the Country think the top of this hill to be the mouth).
- 1687, Archibald Lovell translating Jean de Thévenot, The Travels of Monsieur de Thevenot into the Levant, i, 2:
- Thoughtless, lacking judgment.
- 1576, Abraham Fleming translating Sulpicius, A Panoplie of Epistles, 24:
- Wee sillie soules, take the matter too too heauily.
- 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, iii, 252:
- ‘Heaven help this silly fellow,’ murmured the perplexed locksmith.
- 1972, George Lucas & al., American Graffiti, 8:
- Steve, don't be silly. I mean social intercourse.
- 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 3:
- Framed? Framed? Oh, grow up, Mattie. The truth is that everyone is sillier than you could possibly imagine they'd be. What a dickhead.
- 1576, Abraham Fleming translating Sulpicius, A Panoplie of Epistles, 24:
- (Scotland) Mentally retarded.
- 1568, Christis Kirk on Grene:
- Fow ?ellow ?ellow wes hir heid bot scho of lufe wes sillie.
- 1814, Walter Scott, Waverley, III, xvi, 237:
- Davie's no just like other folk... but he's no sae silly as folk tak him for.
- 1568, Christis Kirk on Grene:
- Stupefied, senseless; stunned or dazed.
- 1829 January 17, Lancaster Gazette:
- You say you were knocked silly—was that so?
- 1907, John Millington Synge, Playboy of the Western World, iii, 64:
- Drinking myself silly...
- 1942, J. Chodorov & al., Junior Miss, ii, i, 113:
- Well, Judy, now that you've scared me silly, what's so important?
- 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2:
- I can kick this stuff any time I like. I tell you what. Get this week over, we'll go to a health farm for ten days. No drugs. No drink. And shag ourselves silly. How about that?
- 1829 January 17, Lancaster Gazette:
- (obsolete) Rustic, uneducated, unlearned.
- (cricket, of a fielding position) Very close to the batsman, facing the bowler; closer than short.
- 1862 July 4, Notts. Guardian:
- Carpenter now placed himself at silly-point for Grundy, who was playing very forward.
- 1862 July 4, Notts. Guardian:
Usage notes
Silly is usually taken to imply a less serious degree of foolishness, mental impairment, or hilarity than its synonyms.
The sense meaning stupefied is usually restricted to times when silly is used as a verb complement, denoting that the action is done so severely or repetitively that it leaves one senseless.
Synonyms
- (playful): charming
- Also see Thesaurus:foolish
Antonyms
- (playful): pious
Derived terms
- (adverb): sillily, silly
- silliness
- silly season
Translations
Adverb
silly (comparative sillier, superlative silliest)
- (now regional or colloquial) Sillily: in a silly manner.
- 1731, Colley Cibber, Careless Husband, 7th ed., i, i, 21:
- If you did but see how silly a Man fumbles for an Excuse, when he's a little asham'd of being in Love.
- 1731, Colley Cibber, Careless Husband, 7th ed., i, i, 21:
Noun
silly (plural sillies)
- (colloquial) A silly person.
- 1807 May, Scots Magazine, 366/1:
- While they, poor sillies, bid good night,
O' love an' bogles eerie.
- While they, poor sillies, bid good night,
- 1807 May, Scots Magazine, 366/1:
- (endearing, gently derogatory) A term of address.
- 1918 September, St. Nicholas, 972/2:
- ‘Come on, silly,’ said Nannie.
- 1918 September, St. Nicholas, 972/2:
- (colloquial) A mistake.
Translations
References
- Oxford English Dictionary, ""silly, adj., n., and adv.", 2013.
Anagrams
- silyl, slily, yills
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