jolly
/ˈd͡ʒɑli/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.57 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pleasure trip or excursion; especially, an expenses-paid or unnecessary one.
British usage; Humorous
noun
Ellipsis of jolly boat.
Example Sentences
- ""Full jolly Knight he seemed […] full large of limb and every joint / He was, and cared not for God or man a point.""
- ""A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! / But something ails it now: the spot is curst. ...""
- "[…] he is swelled into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt liquors […]"
- "Jo silently notices how white and small her hand is and what a jolly servant she must be to wear such sparkling rings."
- "If you know what it means to be a “fidlet” going for a “jolly” in your “doo”, then you are part of an exclusive club that speaks colloquial Antarctic English."
- "I'm a Jolly — 'Er Majesty's Jolly — soldier an' sailor too!"
Etymology
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. It is uncertain whether the Old French word is from Old Norse jól ("a midwinter feast, Yule", hence "fest-ive"), in which case, equivalent to yule + -ive, compare Dutch jolig (“happy, festive, frolicsome, jolly”), West Frisian joelich, joalich (“merry, jolly”), Middle High German jœlich (“hooting, jubilant”). Alternatively, the Old French adjective has been conjectured to derive from a Vulgar Latin *gaudivus (from Latin gaudeō, more at joy), in which case it would require Early Old French ⟨d⟩ /ð/ to irregularly become ⟨l⟩ in jolif rather than being dropped, which is the usual case (alternatively, /l/ may be a hiatus filler inserted into expected *joïf). A possible parallel of ⟨d⟩ to ⟨l⟩ can be seen in the French name Valois, according to one hypothesis from Latin Vadensis, though this origin is itself uncertain and disputed.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈd͡ʒɑli/
- British English: /ˈd͡ʒɒli/
Usage
Inflected Forms
jollier (comparative)
jolliest (superlative)
jollies (plural)
more jolly (comparative)
most jolly (superlative)
jollies (present, singular)
jollying (participle, present)
jollied (participle, past)
jollied (past)