# jolly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈd͡ʒɒli/ · frequency rank #13,549

## Definitions
1. Full of merriment and high spirits; jovial; joyous; merry.
2. Splendid, excellent, pleasant.
3. Drunk.

## Etymology
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”). Alternatively, the Old French adjective has been conjectured to derive from a Vulgar Latin *gaudivus (from Latin gaudeō, more at joy), in which case it would require Early Old French ⟨d⟩ /ð/ to irregularly become ⟨l⟩ in jolif rather than being dropped, which is the usual case (alternatively, /l/ may be a hiatus filler inserted into expected *joïf). A possible parallel of ⟨d⟩ to ⟨l⟩ can be seen in the French name Valois, according to one hypothesis from Latin Vadensis, though this origin is itself uncertain and disputed.

## Easily confused with
- **joy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jolly-vs-joy)
- **July** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jolly-vs-july)
- **jolt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jolly-vs-jolt)
- **Jordy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jolly-vs-jordy)
- **Joel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joel-vs-jolly)
- **joey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joey-vs-jolly)
- **Jill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jill-vs-jolly)
- **Jody** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jody-vs-jolly)
- **jell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jell-vs-jolly)
- **jelly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jelly-vs-jolly)
- **Jolie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jolie-vs-jolly)
- **jello** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jello-vs-jolly)

## Common misspellings (6)
`jjolly`, `jloly`, `jollyy`, `joly`, `jolyl`, `ojlly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/jolly