jolly
To amuse or divertTo amuse or divert.
» We had a jolly good time.
Wir hatten jede Menge Spaß. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(transitive)To amuse or divert.
(archaic, informal, transitive)To praise or talk up.
- be silly or tease one another
Examples
14 sentencesWe had a jolly good time.
deWir hatten jede Menge Spaß. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Tom is a jolly old man.
Tom is a jolly old soul.
She was jolly well made to pay.
Be joyful and merry for it's the jolly season.
Origin
From Middle English joli, jolif (“merry, cheerful”), from Old French joli, jolif (“merry,From Middle English joli, jolif (“merry, cheerful”), from Old French joli, jolif (“merry, joyful”). For the loss of final -f in English, compare tardy, hasty, hussy, etc.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
jollies, jollying, jollied, jolliedSynonyms
20 synonymsWord family
10 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.