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Silly vs Funny - What's the difference?

silly | funny |

As adjectives the difference between silly and funny

is that silly is pitiable; deserving of compassion; helpless while funny is amusing; humorous; comical.

As nouns the difference between silly and funny

is that silly is a silly person; a fool while funny is a joke.

silly

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (label) Pitiable; deserving of compassion; helpless.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , I.vi:
    • A silly man, in simple weedes forworne, / And soild with dust of the long dried way; / His sandales were with toilesome trauell torne, / And face all tand with scorching sunny ray
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
    • After long storms with which my silly bark was tossed sore.
  • * (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) (1772-1834)
    • The silly buckets on the deck.
  • (label) Simple, unsophisticated, ordinary; rustic, ignorant.
  • * 1633 , (John Donne), "Sapho to Philænis":
    • For, if we justly call each silly man'' / A ''little island , What shall we call thee than?
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
    • A fourth man, in a silly habit.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • All that did their silly thoughts so busy keep.
  • Foolish, showing a lack of good sense and wisdom; frivolous, trifling.
  • Irresponsible, showing irresponsible behaviors.
  • Semiconscious, witless.
  • (label) Of a fielding position, very close to the batsman; closer than short.
  • Simple, not intelligent, unrefined.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1935, author= George Goodchild
    • , title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=1 , passage=“Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke
  • (label) Happy; fortunate; blessed.
    • (Chaucer)
  • (label) Harmless; innocent; inoffensive.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
    • The silly virgin strove him to withstand.
  • * Robynson (More's Utopia)
    • A silly , innocent hare murdered of a dog.

    Derived terms

    * sillily (adverb) * silly season

    Antonyms

    * ("playful"): pious

    Synonyms

    * ("playful"): charming

    Noun

    (sillies)
  • (colloquial) A silly person; a fool.
  • (colloquial) A mistake.

    • Anagrams

    * * * 1000 English basic words

    funny

    English

    Etymology 1

    From .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Amusing; humorous; comical.
    • When I went to the circus, I only found the clowns funny .
  • Strange or unusual, often implying unpleasant.
    • The milk smelt funny so I poured it away.
    I've got a funny feeling that this isn't going to work.
    Synonyms
    * See also * See also
    Derived terms
    Related terms
    * fun

    Noun

    (funnies)
  • (humorous) A joke.
  • * 2014 , Brian Conaghan, When Mr. Dog Bites (page 54)
    • Everyone would be sitting on big fluffy white clouds singing songs, telling funnies and just enjoying the day.
  • (humorous) A comic strip.
  • * 2009 , R. P. Moffa, The Vaulted Sky (page 343)
    • His father was more likely to listen to the radio, although he would read the Sunday funnies , and his grandmother would only read the Italian language paper she picked up at the corner candy store.

    Etymology 2

    Perhaps a jocular use of (term). See above.

    Noun

    (funnies)
  • (British) A narrow boat for sculling.