Jolly — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective adverb noun verb /ˈjä-lē/ jol·ly

Meaning & Definition of Jolly

Jolly (adjective)

  1. full of high spirits, joyous
  2. given to conviviality, jovial
  3. expressing, suggesting, or inspiring lively happiness and good cheer, cheerful

Jolly (adverb)

  1. very

Jolly (noun)

  1. a good time, jollification
  2. kicks

Jolly (verb)

  1. to engage in good-natured banter
  2. to put or try to put in good humor especially to gain an end

Jolly (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. indicative of or marked by high spirits or good humor

    "an especially jolly crowd of well-wishers at their wedding reception"

    similar: blithe, blithesome, festive, gay, gleeful, jocose, jocular, jocund, jovial, laughing, merry, mirthful, sunny
    related: amused, beaming, chuckling, giggling, smiling, bright, buoyant, carefree, cheerful, cheery, chipper, lighthearted, lightsome, upbeat, animated, bouncing, frisky, jaunty, lively, peppy, perky, spirited, sprightful, sprightly, vivacious, zippy, blessed, blissful, delighted, ecstatic, elated, enraptured, entranced, euphoric, exhilarated, exuberant, exultant, gladsome, happy, high, joyful, joyous, jubilant, overjoyed, radiant, rapturous, ravished, thrilled, tickled, amusing, facetious, flippant, frolicsome, funny, hilarious, jesting, joking, joshing, playful, sportive, witty, cavalier, devil-may-care, easygoing, happy-go-lucky, insouciant, unconcerned, hopeful, optimistic, rosy, sanguine, antic, comic, comical, farcical, humorous, riotous, sidesplitting, uproarious
    near: abject, aggrieved, anguished, blue, brokenhearted, crestfallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, disheartened, dispirited, downcast, downhearted, forlorn, glum, heartbroken, heartsick, heavyhearted, low-spirited, melancholy, sad, saddened, sorrowful, unhappy, crying, groaning, moaning, sobbing, wailing, weeping, discontented, disgruntled, moody, doleful, dolorous, joyless, lachrymose, lugubrious, mournful, plaintive, sorry, woeful, black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, dark, depressing, desolate, dismal, dreary, gloomy, gray, morose, saturnine, somber, sullen, miserable, woebegone, wretched, dull, lethargic, listless, sluggish, torpid

  2. giving pleasure or contentment to the mind or senses

    "we always have a jolly time at their seaside cottage"

    similar: agreeable, blessed, congenial, darling, delectable, delicious, delightful, delightsome, dreamy, dulcet, enjoyable, felicitous, good, grateful, gratifying, heavenly, luscious, nice, palatable, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, pretty, satisfying, savory, sweet, tasty, welcome
    related: alluring, attractive, desirable, enviable, inviting, relishable, tempting, charming, enchanting, fascinating, calming, comforting, soothing, amusing, diverting, entertaining, recreative, affable, amiable, cheerful, cheery, comfortable, gemütlich, genial, goodly, good-natured, gracious, hospitable, kindly, personable, blissful, felicific, glad, happy, joyous, elating, exhilarating, intoxicating, ecstatic, euphoric, nirvanic, rapturous
    opposite: disagreeable, pleasureless, unpalatable, unpleasant, unwelcome
    near: abominable, ghastly, god-awful, hellish, horrid, miserable, wretched, bilious, disgusting, distasteful, obnoxious, offensive, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revulsive, unsavory, vile, yucky, abhorrent, detestable, hateful, odious, boring, commonplace, dull, flat, insipid, irksome, stale, tedious, displeasing, dissatisfying, depressing, disheartening, dismal, dreary, gloomy, heartbreaking, heartrending, joyless, lachrymose, sad, unhappy, deplorable, doleful, dolorous, lamentable, lugubrious, mournful, regrettable, sorrowful, tragic, aggravating, annoying, exasperating, irritating, peeving, perturbing, vexing, forbidding, hostile, intimidating, angering, enraging, incensing, inflaming, infuriating, maddening, outraging, rankling, riling, distressing, disturbing, upsetting

Jolly (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to a great degree

    "I jolly well agree that you did the right thing"

    "has become a jolly careful driver since his recent accident"

    similar: achingly, almighty, archly, awful, awfully, badly, beastly, blisteringly, bone, colossally, corking, cracking, damn, damned, dang, deadly, desperately, eminently, enormously, especially, ever, exceedingly, extra, extremely, fabulously, fantastically, far, fiercely, filthy, frightfully, full, greatly, heavily, highly, hugely, immensely, incredibly, intensely, majorly, mightily, mighty, monstrous (chiefly dialect), mortally, most, much, particularly, passing, rattling, real, really, right, roaring, roaringly, seriously, severely, so, sore, sorely, spanking, specially, stinking, such, super, supremely, surpassingly, terribly, that, thumping, too, unco, uncommonly, vastly, very, vitally, way, whacking, wicked, wildly, a lot, as all get-out, good and
    related: absolutely, altogether, completely, downright, entirely, flat-out, fully, positively, purely, radically, thoroughly, totally, utterly, wholly, deeply, profoundly, exceptionally, notably, remarkably, considerably, extensively, significantly, substantially, appreciably, discernibly, markedly, noticeably, obviously, palpably, plainly, visibly, abundantly, plentifully, astronomically, grandly, monstrously, monumentally, excessively, obscenely, overmuch, amazingly, astonishingly, staggeringly
    opposite: little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, somewhat
    near: meagerly, scantily, barely, hardly, just, marginally, minimally, scarcely

Jolly (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to make jokes

    "spent their nights around the campfire good-naturedly jollying and telling scary stories"

    similar: banter, chaff, fool, fun, gag, jape, jest, jive, joke, josh, kid, quip, wisecrack, yuk (slang), crack wise
    related: gibe, haze, jeer, mock, rag, rally, razz, rib, ridicule, tease, caricature, lampoon, parody, satirize, amuse, divert, entertain

Related Entry: Jolly Roger (noun)

Jolly Roger is a different word from Jolly. The synonyms below are for Jolly Roger, not for jolly.

  1. as in white flag, black flag

    similar: black flag, tricolor, union jack, white flag, bunting, gonfalon, burgee, semaphore, signaler, waft, banderole, banner, colors, ensign, flag, guidon, jack, pendant (chiefly British), pennant, pennon, standard, streamer, badge, coat of arms, crest, insignia

Related Entry: Jolly Rogers (noun)

Jolly Rogers is a different word from Jolly. The synonyms below are for Jolly Rogers, not for jolly.

  1. as in white flags, black flags

    similar: black flags, tricolors, union jacks, white flags, buntings, gonfalons, burgees, semaphores, signalers, wafts, banderoles, banners, colors, ensigns, flags, guidons, jacks, pendants (chiefly British), pennants, pennons, standards, streamers, badges, coats of arms, crests, insignia

Related Entry: Jolly boat (noun)

Jolly boat is a different word from Jolly. The synonyms below are for jolly boat, not for jolly.

  1. as in bumboat, yawl

    similar: auxiliary, bumboat, cutter, launch, lifeboat, longboat, tender, yawl, houseboat, riverboat, barge, hoy, keel, keelboat, lighter, narrow boat (British), cruiser, inboard, motorboat, outboard, powerboat, towboat, tug, tugboat, bateau, caïque, canoe, catamaran, coracle, curragh, dhow, dinghy, dink, dory, dugout, flatboat, garvey, gig, johnboat, kayak, outrigger, paddleboat, pinnace, piragua, pirogue, pontoon, pram, punt, raft, rowboat, rowing boat (chiefly British), sampan, scow, scull, shallop, shell, skiff, surfboat, umiak, wherry, ferry, ferryboat, gondola, taxi, water taxi, catboat, ketch, sailboat, schooner, yacht, banker, coble, dragger, gillnetter, hooker, lugger, scalloper, seiner, shrimper, trawler, whaleboat, whaler, workboat, boat, bottom, craft, vessel, watercraft

Related Entry: Jolly boats (noun)

Jolly boats is a different word from Jolly. The synonyms below are for jolly boats, not for jolly.

  1. as in bumboats, yawls

    similar: auxiliaries, bumboats, cutters, launches, lifeboats, longboats, tender, yawls, houseboats, riverboats, barges, hoys, keelboats, keels, lighters, narrow boats (British), cruisers, inboards, motorboats, outboards, powerboats, towboats, tugboats, tugs, bateaux, caïques, canoes, catamarans, coracles, curraghs, dhows, dinghies, dinks, dories, dugouts, flatboats, garveys, gigs, johnboats, kayaks, outriggers, paddleboats, pinnaces, piraguas, pirogues, pontoons, prams, punts, rafts, rowboats, rowing boats (chiefly British), sampans, scows, sculls, shallops, shells, skiffs, surfboats, umiaks, wherries, ferries, ferryboats, gondolas, taxis, water taxis, catboats, ketches, sailboats, schooners, yachts, bankers, cobles, draggers, gillnetters, hookers, luggers, scallopers, seiners, shrimpers, trawlers, whaleboats, whalers, workboats, boats, bottoms, crafts, vessels, watercrafts

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Jolly

The most common words with a similar meaning to Jolly:

Chiefly dialect: monstrous
Slang: yuk
blithe, blithesome, festive, gay, gleeful, jocose, jocular, jocund, jovial, laughing, merry, mirthful, sunny, agreeable, blessed, congenial, darling, delectable, delicious, delightful, delightsome, dreamy, dulcet, enjoyable, felicitous, good, grateful, gratifying, heavenly, luscious, nice, palatable, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, pretty, satisfying, savory, sweet, tasty

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Jolly

Words with the opposite meaning of Jolly:

disagreeable, pleasureless, unpalatable, unpleasant, unwelcome, little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, somewhat

Related Words for Jolly

amused, beaming, chuckling, giggling, smiling, bright, buoyant, carefree, cheerful, cheery, chipper, lighthearted, lightsome, upbeat, animated, bouncing, frisky, jaunty, lively, peppy, perky, spirited, sprightful, sprightly, vivacious, zippy, blissful, delighted, ecstatic, elated

Near Antonyms of Jolly

abject, aggrieved, anguished, blue, brokenhearted, crestfallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, disheartened, dispirited, downcast, downhearted, forlorn, glum, heartbroken, heartsick, heavyhearted, low-spirited, melancholy, sad, saddened, sorrowful, unhappy, crying, groaning, moaning, sobbing, wailing

Word Forms of Jolly

Inflections: jollier, jolliest, jollies, jollied, jollying

Origin & Etymology of Jolly

Middle English joli, from Anglo-French jolif, from jol-, probably from Old Norse jōl midwinter festival yule

First known use: 14th century

Words & Phrases Containing Jolly

jolly boat, Jolly Roger, jolly well

Frequently Asked Questions about Jolly

What does "Jolly" mean?

"Jolly" means full of high spirits, joyous. As an an adjective, an adverb, a noun and a verb, it is defined as: full of high spirits, joyous. It has 4 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Jolly"?

Other words for "Jolly" include blithe, blithesome, festive, gay, gleeful, jocose, jocular and jocund. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Jolly" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Jolly"?

There are 308 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Jolly". Common alternatives include blithe, blithesome, festive, gay, gleeful, jocose, jocular, jocund, jovial and laughing.

What is the opposite of "Jolly"?

Antonyms of "Jolly" include disagreeable, pleasureless, unpalatable, unpleasant, unwelcome, little, negligibly and nominally. Near antonyms include abject, aggrieved, anguished and blue.

How do you use "Jolly" in a sentence?

Examples of "Jolly" in a sentence: "an especially jolly crowd of well-wishers at their wedding reception"; "we always have a jolly time at their seaside cottage"; "I jolly well agree that you did the right thing".

Is "Jolly" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Jolly" can be used as an adjective, an adverb, a noun and a verb, depending on the context.

How do you pronounce "Jolly"?

"Jolly" is pronounced /ˈjä-lē/ and divided into syllables as jol·ly.

What is the origin of the word "Jolly"?

"Jolly" comes from Middle English joli, from Anglo-French jolif, from jol-, probably from Old Norse jōl midwinter festival yule. First known use: 14th century.