different between squeamish vs silly
squeamish
English
Alternative forms
- sweamish, swaimish (dialectal)
- squeimish, squemish, squeamous (obsolete)
Etymology
Unclear origin. One hypothesis states it is an alteration of earlier squeamous, substituting -ous with -ish, from Anglo-Norman escoymous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?skwi?m??/
Adjective
squeamish (comparative more squeamish, superlative most squeamish)
- Easily shocked, sickened or frightened; tending to be nauseated or nervous; oversensitive.
- He might have made a good doctor, had he not been so squeamish at the sight of blood.
- Averse or reluctant.
Translations
External links
- Discussion of the unclear etymology of squeamish
squeamish From the web:
- what squeamish means
- squeamish what does that mean
- what causes squeamishness
- squamous cancer
- what does squeamish
- what do squeamish mean
- squamous cell carcinoma
- squamous cell cancer
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
silly From the web:
- what silly means
- what silly holiday is today
- what silly means in spanish
- what silly day is it today
- what silly holiday is tomorrow
- what silly ones play crossword
- what silly bandz is this
- what silly ones play
you may also like
- squeamish vs silly
- incident vs relation
- offend vs dissatisfy
- indecorum vs obscenity
- unanswerable vs final
- undefiled vs virtuous
- fiery vs bitter
- vow vs dispute
- recount vs utter
- crude vs impolite
- challenging vs titillating
- pound vs shatter
- tall vs stately
- secrecy vs conciseness
- combat vs controversy
- mischieveous vs hurtful
- violate vs deflour
- polished vs voluble
- abbreviated vs summarised
- rest vs facility