Sely
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Obsolete form of silly, especially in its older senses like "innocent", "pitiable, poor", "trifling, insignificant", but also "foolish". alt-of, obsolete
"But the troubles of this "poor "sely innocent" were not yet over. The King's mother is indignant at so strange a marriage; and one day in his absence, and by her machinations, Constance and her young child are placed on board a ship to take her chance in the wild sea."
Example
More examples"But the troubles of this "poor "sely innocent" were not yet over. The King's mother is indignant at so strange a marriage; and one day in his absence, and by her machinations, Constance and her young child are placed on board a ship to take her chance in the wild sea."
Etymology
From Middle English sely, from Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”), (also gesǣliġ (“happy, prosperous, blessed, fortunate”)), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (“happy”). Equivalent to Middle English seel + -y.
More for "sely"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.