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PlainSpell

jolly

jol·ly/ˈd͡ʒɑli/adjective, noun, adverb, verb

jolly is spelled J-O-L-L-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables (jol·ly). It appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Jolly, the name). As an adjective, jolly means “Full of merriment and high spirits; jovial; joyous; merry” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in jolly?

Letters5: J-O-L-L-Y
Syllables2: jol·ly
In writing3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is jolly?

Jolly appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Jolly, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce jolly?

  • UK /ˈd͡ʒɒli/
  • US /ˈd͡ʒɑli/

Jolly has 2 syllables, split jol·ly in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-jolly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with jolly?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as jolly from its last stressed vowel (/ɑli/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of jolly

  • jollier comparative
  • jolliest superlative
  • jollies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • more jolly comparative
  • most jolly superlative
  • jollying participle, present
  • jollied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does jolly mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Full of merriment and high spirits; jovial; joyous; merry.

  2. 2

    colloquialdatedSplendid, excellent, pleasant.

  3. 3

    informalDrunk.

noun

  1. 1

    UKA pleasure trip or excursion; especially, an expenses-paid or unnecessary one.

  2. 2

    datedslangA marine in the English navy.

  3. 3

    archaicslangA word of praise, or favorable notice.

  4. 4

    Ellipsis of jolly boat.

verb

  1. 1

    To amuse or divert.

  2. 2

    archaicinformalTo praise or talk up.

adverb

  1. 1

    UKdatedVery, extremely.

    It’s jolly hot in here, isn’t it?

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Where does jolly come from?

From Middle English joli, jolif (“merry, cheerful”), from Old French joli, jolif (“merry, joyful”). For the loss of final -f in English, compare tardy, hasty, hussy, etc. It is uncertain whether the Old French word is from Old Norse jól ("a midwinter feast, Yule", hence "fest-ive"), in which case, equivalent to yule + -ive, compare Dutch jolig (“happy, festive, frolicsome, jolly”), West Frisian joelich, joalich (“merry, jolly”), Middle High German jœlich (“hooting, jubilant”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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