adjective, adverb, verb
adjective (jollier, jolliest)
1 happy and cheerful:
a jolly crowd / face / mood
2 (old-fashioned) enjoyable:
a jolly evening / party / time
jollity noun [U] (old-fashioned):
scenes of high-spirits and jollity
adverb (old-fashioned, BrE, informal) very:
That's a jolly good idea. * It was jolly lucky it didn't rain.
IDIOMS
jolly good! (old-fashioned, BrE, spoken) used to show that you approve of sth that sb has just said:
'I'll be there by ten o'clock.' 'Jolly good!'
jolly well (old-fashioned, BrE) used to emphasize a statement when you are annoyed about sth:
If you don't come now, you can jolly well walk home!
verb (jollies, jollying, jollied, jollied) (BrE)
PHRASALVERBS
jolly sb along to encourage sb in a cheerful way
jolly sb into sth / into doing sth to persuade or encourage sb to do sth by making them feel happy about it
jolly sb/sth up to make sb/sth more cheerful:
You need jollying up!
