Unsilly

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Serious and sensible rather than foolish or playful
2. Marked by gravity and sobriety instead of silliness or lightheartedness
3. Characterized by a lack of frivolity or lack of foolish behavior

Etymology: Old English "unsǣliġ" was built from "un-", a negating prefix meaning "not", and "sǣliġ", meaning "happy" or "fortunate." Its ancestor "sǣl" meant "happiness," "good fortune," or a "happy time," so the original sense was closer to "unlucky" or "ill-starred" than to anything foolish. Middle English kept that meaning in "unsely," used of people who were unfortunate, wretched, or miserable. Over the centuries the word followed a path that "silly" also took. "Silly" itself came from Old English "sǣliġ" and meant "blessed" or "innocent" before drifting toward "simple" and then "foolish." "Unsilly" is a doublet of "unseelie," the Scottish term for the malevolent fairies, which keeps the older sense of ill fortune alive in a different shape.

Synonyms: sensible, serious, prudent, wise

Antonyms: silly, foolish, absurd