Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Silly

Silly , adjective

[Old English seely, sely, Anglo-Saxon s{not transcribed}lig, ges{not transcribed}lig, happy, good, from s{not transcribed}l, s{not transcribed}l, good, happy, s{not transcribed}l good fortune, happines; akin to Old Saxon sālig, a, good, happy, Dutch zalig blessed, German selig, Old High German sālīg, Icelandic s{not transcribed}l, Swedish sall, Danish salig, Gothic s{not transcribed}ls good, kind, and perh. also to Latin sollus whole, entire, Greek {not transcribed}, Sanskrit sarva. Compare Seel, n.]

1.
Happy; fortunate; blessed. [Obsolete] — Chaucer
2.
Harmless; innocent; inoffensive. [Obsolete]
This silly, innocent Custance. — Chaucer
The silly virgin strove him to withstand. — Spenser
A silly, innocent hare murdered of a dog. — Robynson (More's Utopia)
3.
Weak; helpless; frail. [Obsolete]
After long storms... With which my silly bark was tossed sore. — Spenser
The silly buckets on the deck. — Coleridge
4.
Rustic; plain; simple; humble. [Obsolete]
A fourth man, in a sillyhabit. — Shakespeare
All that did their silly thoughts so busy keep. — Milton
5.
Weak in intellect; destitute of ordinary strength of mind; foolish; witless; simple; as, a silly woman.
6.
Proceeding from want of understanding or common judgment; characterized by weakness or folly; unwise; absurd; stupid; as, silly conduct; a silly question.