What is "jolliest"

Jolly \Jol"ly\ (j[o^]l"l[y^]), a. [Compar. Jollier (-l[i^]*[~e]r); superl. Jolliest.] [OF. joli, jolif, joyful, merry, F. joli pretty; of Scand. origin, akin to E. yule; cf. Icel. j[=o]l yule, Christmas feast. See Yule.]

1. Full of life and mirth; jovial; joyous; merry; mirthful.

   Like a jolly troop of huntsmen.
   --Shak.

   ``A jolly place,'' said he, ``in times of old! But something ails it now: the spot is cursed.''
   --Wordsworth.

2. Expressing mirth, or inspiring it; exciting mirth and gayety.

   And with his jolly pipe delights the groves.
   --Prior.

   Their jolly notes they chanted loud and clear.
   --Fairfax.

3. Of fine appearance; handsome; excellent; lively; agreeable; pleasant. ``A jolly cool wind.''
   --Sir T. North. [Now mostly colloq.]

   Full jolly knight he seemed, and fair did sit.
   --Spenser.

   The coachman is swelled into jolly dimensions.
   --W. Irving.

a. (en-superlativejolly)

1. n. a happy party

2. a yawl used by a ship's sailors for general work [syn: jolly boat]

3. adv. used as an intensifier (`jolly' is used informally in Britain); "pretty big"; "pretty bad"; "jolly decent of him" [syn: pretty]

4. [also: jollied, jolliest, jollier]

1. adj. full of or showing high-spirited merriment; "when hearts were young and gay"; "a poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company"- Wordsworth; "the jolly crowd at the reunion"; "jolly old Saint Nick"; "a jovial old gentleman"; "have a merry Christmas"; "peals of merry laughter"; "a mirthful laugh" [syn: gay, jocund, jovial, merry, mirthful]

2. [also: jollied, jolliest, jollier]

1. v. be silly or tease one another; "After we relaxed, we just kidded around" [syn: kid, chaff, josh, banter]

2. [also: jollied, jolliest, jollier]

See jolly