dilly

[dil-ee] /ˈdɪl i/
noun, plural dillies. Informal.
1.
something or someone regarded as remarkable, unusual, etc.:
a dilly of a movie.
Origin
1930-35; Americanism; earlier as adj.: wonderful, apparently a shortening of delightful or delicious, with -y1 (now taken as -y2)
Examples from the web for dilly
  • His closet full of identical blue, button-down shirts and khaki slacks eliminates sartorial dilly-dally.
  • If you didn't, then your dilly-dallying has been punished with a further ten days of painful anticipation.
  • There is a tried and tested way to stop the dilly-dallying.
  • Couldn't even forcefully encourage him not to dilly-dally in the pocket.
  • But there's really not much time to dilly dally on the feet.
  • One wonders if you're not dilly-dallying for a reason.
  • And the tournament game that forms the climax is a dilly, even though it is contrived.
British Dictionary definitions for dilly

dilly1

/ˈdɪlɪ/
noun (pl) -lies
1.
(slang, mainly US & Canadian) a person or thing that is remarkable
Word Origin
C20: perhaps from girl's proper name Dilly

dilly2

/ˈdɪlɪ/
adjective -lier, -liest
1.
(Austral & NZ, slang) silly
Word Origin
C20: perhaps from silly
Word Origin and History for dilly
n.

"delightful or excellent person or thing" (often used ironically), 1935, American English, from an earlier adjective (1909), perhaps from the first syllable of delightful or delicious, or related to the nursery word for "duck." Dilly was also slang for a stagecoach (1818), from French carrosse de diligence (see diligence).

Slang definitions & phrases for dilly

dilly

noun

A person or thing that is remarkable, wonderful, superior, etc; beaut, lulu: The last one is a dilly if you don't have an appointment (1935+)