different between strange vs silly
strange
English
Etymology
From Middle English straunge, strange, stronge, from Old French estrange, from Latin extraneus (“that which is on the outside”). Doublet of extraneous. Cognate with French étrange (“strange, foreign”) and Spanish extranjero (“foreign”). Displaced native Old English seldc?þ.
Pronunciation
- enPR: str?nj, IPA(key): /?st?e?nd??/
- Rhymes: -e?nd?
Adjective
strange (comparative stranger, superlative strangest)
- Not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary.
- He thought it strange that his girlfriend wore shorts in the winter.
- c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing, Act IV, Scene 1,[1]
- I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?
- 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 9, lines 598-601,[2]
- Sated at length, ere long I might perceave
- Strange alteration in me, to degree
- Of Reason in my inward Powers, and Speech
- Wanted not long, though to this shape retain’d.
- Unfamiliar, not yet part of one's experience.
- I moved to a strange town when I was ten.
- c. 1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act IV, Scene 2,[3]
- […] here is the hand and seal of the duke: you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you.
- 1955, Rex Stout, "The Next Witness", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, ?ISBN, pages 48–49:
- She's probably sitting there hoping a couple of strange detectives will drop in.
- (particle physics) Having the quantum mechanical property of strangeness.
- Hypernym: flavor
- 2004 Frank Close, Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 93:
- A strange quark is electrically charged, carrying an amount -1/3, as does the down quark.
- (mathematics) Of an attractor: having a fractal structure.
- (obsolete) Belonging to another country; foreign.
- 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, London, Book 1,[4]
- I take goyng thither [to Italy], and liuing there, for a yonge ientleman, that doth not goe vnder the kepe and garde of such a man, as both, by wisedome can, and authoritie dare rewle him, to be meruelous dangerous […] not bicause I do contemne, either the knowledge of strange and diuerse tonges, and namelie the Italian tonge […] or else bicause I do despise, the learning that is gotten […]
- c. 1594, William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act IV, Scene 2,[5]
- […] one of the strange queen’s lords.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 137:4,[6]
- How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
- 1662, Samuel Pepys, Diary entry dated 27 November, 1662, in Henry B. Wheatley (editor), The Diary of Samuel Pepys, New York: Croscup & Sterling, 1893, Volume 2, Part 2, p. 377,[7]
- I could not see the [Russian] Embassador in his coach; but his attendants in their habits and fur caps very handsome, comely men […] But Lord! to see the absurd nature of Englishmen, that cannot forbear laughing and jeering at every thing that looks strange.
- 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, London, Book 1,[4]
- (obsolete) Reserved; distant in deportment.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene 1,[8]
- Good signiors both, when shall we laugh? say, when?
- You grow exceeding strange: must it be so?
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields, Chapter 19, p. 253,[9]
- She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee!
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene 1,[8]
- (obsolete) Backward; slow.
- 1621, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Thierry and Theodoret, London: Thomas Walkley, Act III, Scene 1,[10]
- […] to his name your barrennesse adds rule;
- Who louing the effect, would not be strange
- In fauoring the cause; looke on the profit,
- And gaine will quickly point the mischiefe out.
- 1621, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Thierry and Theodoret, London: Thomas Walkley, Act III, Scene 1,[10]
- (obsolete) Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.
- c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act IV, Scene 3,[11]
- I know thee well;
- But in thy fortunes am unlearn’d and strange.
- c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act IV, Scene 3,[11]
- (law) Not belonging to one.
Synonyms
- (not normal): See Thesaurus:strange
- (not part of one's experience): new, unfamiliar, unknown
Antonyms
- (not normal): everyday, normal, regular (especially US), standard, usual, unsurprising
- (not part of one's experience): familiar, known
Derived terms
Related terms
- estrange, estranged
- stranger
Translations
Verb
strange (third-person singular simple present stranges, present participle stranging, simple past and past participle stranged)
- (obsolete, transitive) To alienate; to estrange.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To be estranged or alienated.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To wonder; to be astonished (at something).
- 1661, Joseph Glanvill, The Vanity of Dogmatizing, London: Henry Eversden, Chapter 19, p. 184,[12]
- [these] were all the Assertions of Aristotle, which Theology pronounceth impieties. Which yet we need not strange at from one, of whom a Father saith, Nec Deum coluit nec curavit [he neither worshipped nor cared for God]:
- 1661, Joseph Glanvill, The Vanity of Dogmatizing, London: Henry Eversden, Chapter 19, p. 184,[12]
Derived terms
- bestrange
Noun
strange (uncountable)
- (slang, uncountable) vagina
- 2013 "Taming Strange" (episode of South Park TV series)
- Ike: Yeah, for my cool cool trick I'm gonna tame Foofa's strange.
- Plex: Tame mo-what?
- Ike: I can tame Foofa's strange, bro.
- 2013 "Taming Strange" (episode of South Park TV series)
Anagrams
- Sargent, Stagner, Stanger, argents, garnets, gerants, rangest
Esperanto
Etymology
stranga (“strange”) +? -e
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?stran?e/
- Hyphenation: stran?ge
- Rhymes: -an?e
Adverb
strange
- strangely
Middle English
Adjective
strange
- Alternative form of straunge
Old English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?str?n?e/, [?str???e]
Adjective
strange
- Inflected form of strang
West Flemish
Noun
strange n
- beach
strange From the web:
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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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