silly (see the earlier form SEELY; senses 2, 3, 4, 6 and that of ‘foolish, senseless’ are not pre-Eliz.)
1.
deserving of pity, ‘poor’
R2 V. v. 25
“ beggars Who
sitting in the stocks”
. . ., 2H6 I. i.
226,
Lr. II. ii. 109
“ ducking
observants,”
Lucr. 1812*
“ jeering idiots.”
2.
helpless, defenceless
(of women) Gent. IV. i. 72, 3H6 I. i. 243, (of
sheep) 3H6 II. v. 43, Ven. 1098.
3.
feeble, frail
1H6 II. iii. 22
“a silly dwarf.”
4.
scanty, meagre 3H6 III. iii. 93*
“threescore and two years, a
silly time To make prescription for a
kingdom's worth.”
5.
unsophisticated,
simple
Lucr. 1345
“silly groom!.”
6.
plain, simple, homely
Tw.N. II. iv. 46
“it is sooth,”
1H6 IV. vii. 72,
Cym. V. iii. 86
“a fourth man, in a
silly habit.”
