jolly








adjective, jol·li·er, jol·li·est.

  1. in good spirits; lively; merry: In a moment he was as jolly as ever.
  2. cheerfully festive or convivial: a jolly party.
  3. joyous; happy: Christmas is a jolly season.
  4. Chiefly British Informal. delightful; charming.
  5. British.
    1. Informal.great; thorough: a jolly blunderer.
    2. Slang.slightly drunk; tipsy.

verb (used with object), jol·lied, jol·ly·ing.

  1. Informal. to talk or act agreeably to (a person) in order to keep that person in good humor, especially in the hope of gaining something (usually followed by along): They jollied him along until the job was done.

verb (used without object), jol·lied, jol·ly·ing.

  1. Informal. to jolly a person; josh; kid.

noun, plural jol·lies.

  1. Informal. the practice or an instance of jollying a person.
  2. Usually jollies. Informal. pleasurable excitement, especially from or as if from something forbidden or improper; thrills; kicks: He gets his jollies from watching horror movies.

adverb

  1. British Informal. extremely; very: He’ll jolly well do as he’s told.

adjective -lier or -liest

  1. full of good humour; jovial
  2. having or provoking gaiety and merrymaking; festive
  3. greatly enjoyable; pleasing

adverb

  1. British (intensifier)you’re jolly nice

verb -lies, -lying or -lied (tr) informal

  1. (often foll by up or along) to try to make or keep (someone) cheerful
  2. to make goodnatured fun of

noun

  1. informal, mainly British a festivity or celebration
  2. informal, mainly British a trip, esp one made for pleasure by a public official or committee at public expense
  3. British slang a Royal Marine
adj.

c.1300 (late 13c. as a surname), from Old French jolif “festive, merry, amorous, pretty” (12c.) of uncertain origin (cf. Italian giulivo “merry, pleasant”).

Perhaps a Germanic loan-word from a source akin to Old Norse jol “a winter feast” (see yule), or from Latin gaudere “to rejoice,” from PIE *gau- “to rejoice” (see joy). For loss of -f, cf. tardy, hasty. Related: Jollily; jolliness.

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