silliness
/ˈsɪlinɪs/noun
silliness is spelled S-I-L-L-I-N-E-S-S: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, silliness means “That which is perceived as silly or frivolous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of silliness is sillinesses.
How many letters and syllables are in silliness?
| Letters | 9: S-I-L-L-I-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is silliness?
Silliness appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce silliness?
- /ˈsɪlinɪs/
- /-nəs/
Silliness has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-silliness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of silliness
- sillinesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does silliness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
That which is perceived as silly or frivolous.
- 2
An act that is silly; a result of being silly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Silliness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense that which is perceived as silly or frivolous:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does silliness come from?
From silly + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).