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Neat vs Silly - What's the difference?

neat | silly |

In archaic terms the difference between neat and silly

is that neat is with all deductions or allowances made; net while silly is pitiable; deserving of compassion; helpless.

In colloquial terms the difference between neat and silly

is that neat is good, excellent, desirable while silly is a mistake.

neat

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) nete, neat, from (etyl) . More at (l).

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (archaic) A bull or cow.
  • * 1663 ,
    • Sturdy he was, and no less able / Than Hercules to cleanse a stable; / As great a drover, and as great / A critic too, in hog or neat .
  • * Shakespeare
    • The steer, the heifer, and the calf / Are all called neat .
  • * Tusser
    • a neat and a sheep of his own.
  • (archaic) Cattle collectively.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.9:
    • From thence into the open fields he fled, / Whereas the Heardes were keeping of their neat
    Derived terms
    * neatherd * neatfoot, neatsfoot

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . See (l).

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,
  • Free from contaminants; unadulterated, undiluted. Particularly of liquor and cocktails; see usage below.
  • :
  • (lb) Conditions with a liquid reagent or gas performed with no standard solvent or cosolvent.
  • :
  • (lb) With all deductions or allowances made; net.
  • Having a simple elegance or style; clean, trim, tidy, tasteful.
  • :
  • Well-executed or delivered; clever, skillful, precise.
  • :
  • (lb) Good, excellent, desirable.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=June 20, author=Phil Mickelson (being quoted), work=BBC News
    • , title= US Open: Jack Nicklaus tips Rory McIlroy for greatness , passage="You can tell that Rory has had this type of talent in him for some time now, and to see him putting it together is pretty neat to see."}}
    Coordinate terms
    * (undiluted liquor or cocktail) straight up, up, straight
    Antonyms
    * (undiluted liquor or cocktail) on the rocks
    Usage notes
    In bartending, neat' has the formal meaning “a liquor pour straight from the bottle into a glass, at room temperature, without ice or chilling”. This is contrasted with , and with drinks that are chilled but strained (stirred over ice to chill, but poured through a strainer so that there is no ice in the glass), which is formally referred to as up. However, the terminology is a point of significant confusion, with ' neat , up, straight up, and straight being used by bar patrons (and some bartenders) variously and ambiguously to mean either “unchilled” or “chilled” (but without ice in the glass), and hence clarification is often required.“ Up, Neat, Straight Up, or On the Rocks”, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Friday, May 9th, 2008Walkart, C.G. (2002). National Bartending Center Instruction Manual. Oceanside, California: Bartenders America, Inc. p. 106

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An artificial intelligence researcher who believes that solutions should be elegant, clear and provably correct. Compare scruffy.

    • References

    Anagrams

    * * * ----

    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