jolly

/ˈdʒɑli/

/ˈdʒɒli/

Other forms: jolliest; jollier; jollying; jollies; jollied; jollily

Someone who's jolly is extremely cheerful. Your jolly French teacher might spend a large part of each class laughing out loud at his own jokes — if only you understood French, you could laugh along with him.

Santa Claus might be the mythical figure best known for being jolly — he's especially famous for his jolly "Ho ho ho!" Anyone who tends to be merry or festive is jolly, and when you want to cheer up a less-than-jolly friend, you can jolly them, teasing or kidding until they smile. The Old French root is jolif, "festive, merry, or pretty."

Definitions of jolly

1. adjective

   full of or showing high-spirited merriment
   “the jolly crowd at the reunion”

   “jolly old Saint Nick”

   synonyms: gay, jocund, jovial, merry, mirthful

   joyous

   full of or characterized by joy
2. verb

   be silly or tease one another
   synonyms: banter, chaff, josh, kid

   type of:

   bait, cod, rag, rally, razz, ride, tantalise, tantalize, taunt, tease, twit

   harass with persistent criticism or carping
3. noun

   a happy party
   type of:

   party

   an occasion on which people can assemble for social interaction and entertainment
4. adverb

   to a moderately sufficient extent or degree
   “jolly decent of him”

   synonyms: fairly, middling, moderately, passably, pretty, reasonably, somewhat
5. noun

   a yawl used by a ship's sailors for general work
   synonyms: jolly boat

   type of:

   yawl

   a ship's small boat (usually rowed by 4 or 6 oars)