dilly

dilly

See also: Dilly

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪli/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪli

Etymology 1

dill +‎ -y

Adjective

dilly (comparative more dilly, superlative most dilly)

1. Redolent of dill (the herb).

Derived terms

• dilly bean

Noun

dilly (plural dillies)

1. Someone or something that is remarkable or unusual.
   • 1958, Raymond Chandler, Playback

     You're the most impossible man I ever met. And I've met some dillies.

   • 2013, Andrew Lycett, Ian Fleming, page 301:

     Seriously, I mean it: From Russia, With Love is a real wowser, a lulu, a dilly and a smasheroo.

Noun

dilly (plural dillies)

1. (Australia) A dilly bag.

Etymology 4

From Somersetshire dialect; perhaps a blend of daft and silly.[1]

Adjective

dilly (comparative dillier, superlative dilliest)

1. (Australia) Silly; characteristic of a dill.

References

1. James Lambert The Macquarie Australian Slang Dictionary (Sydney: Macquarie Library) 2004, page 63.

Etymology 5

Contracted from diligence.

Noun

dilly (plural dillies)

1. (dated) A kind of stagecoach.
   • 1798, John Hookham Frere and George Canning, , The Loves of the Triangles

     So, down thy hill, romantic Ashbourn, glides
     The Derby dilly, carrying six insides.

2. (obsolete, slang) A night cart.

References

• 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

See also

• dilly-dally (etymologically unrelated)

Anagrams

• idyll