selly

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selly

/ˈsɛli/

Sounds like celly, Sally (celery-salary merger) · Rhymes with -ɛli

Where it comes from

From Middle English selly, selly, sellich, from Old English sellīċ, seldlīċ (“rare, strange, wondrous”), from Proto-West Germanic *seldalīk, from Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz, equivalent to seld + -ly.

Cognate with Scots selly, silly (“approved, good, worthy”), Old Saxon seldlīk (“rare, wonderful”), Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (sildaleiks, “wonderful”).

adjective sellier · more selly · selliest · most selly · silly · sillie

Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal Rare; wonderful; admirable
Similar: infrequent, scarce, uncommon, impressive, unbelievable, enchanting

adverb sellier · more selly · selliest · most selly · silly · sillie

Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal Wonderfully, wondrously. His brother was […] selly sick and sore unsound.

noun sellies · silly · sillie

Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal A marvel; wonder; something wonderful or rare The line is a masterstroke of noncommitment, for the event is a "selly" in the sight of some unidentified readers.

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MLA

"selly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/selly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

selly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/selly

Chicago

"selly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/selly.

BibTeX

@misc{selly_2026,
  title = {selly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/selly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}