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Silly vs Sally - What's the difference?

silly | sally |

As an adjective silly

is (label) pitiable; deserving of compassion; helpless.

As a noun silly

is (colloquial) a silly person; a fool.

As a proper noun sally is

, also used as a formal given name.

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

    sally

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) saly, from (etyl) . More at (l).

    Noun

    (sallies)
  • A willow
  • Any tree that looks like a willow
  • An object made from the above trees' wood
  • Derived terms
    * sally rod

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) saillie, from sailli, the past participle of the verb saillir 'to leap forth', itself from (etyl) salire 'to leap'

    Noun

    (sallies)
  • A sortie of troops from a besieged place against an enemy.
  • A sudden rushing forth.
  • (figuratively) A witty statement or quip, usually at the expense of one's interlocutor.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=April 26 , author=Tasha Robinson , title=Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits : , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=The stakes are low and the story beats are incidental amid the rush of largely mild visual gags and verbal sallies like “Blood Island! So called because it’s the exact shape of some blood!” }}
  • An excursion or side trip.
  • * John Locke
  • Everyone shall know a country better that makes often sallies into it, and traverses it up and down, than he that goes still round in the same track.
  • A tufted woollen part of a bellrope, used to provide grip when ringing a bell.
  • See also
    * sally port

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To make a sudden attack on an enemy from a defended position.
  • The troops sallied in desperation.
  • To set out on an excursion; venture; depart (often followed by "forth.")
  • As she sallied forth from her boudoir, you would never have guessed how quickly she could strip for action. -William Manchester
  • To venture off the beaten path.
  • Etymology 3

    From salvation in Salvation Army, from (etyl) salvatio

    Noun

    (sallies)
  • (New Zealand, slang) A member of the Salvation Army.
  • Synonyms
    * Salvo

    Anagrams

    * *