Jol·ly a. [Compar. Jollier superl. Jolliest.]
 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.


 jolly
      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]
      n 1: a happy party
      2: a yawl used by a ship's sailors for general work [syn: {jolly
         boat]
      adv : used as an intensifier (`jolly' is used informally in
            Britain); "pretty big"; "pretty bad"; "jolly decent of
            him" [syn: pretty]
      v : be silly or tease one another; "After we relaxed, we just
          kidded around" [syn: kid, chaff, josh, banter]
      [also: jollied, jolliest, jollier]


 jollier
      See jolly