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Glite Dictionary
frilly

frilly

16 4.1
Clothes with many small ruffles or lace that look decorative
  • adjective
  • /ˈfrɪli/
translation icon : con volantes
  • He decorated the cake with a frilly icing border that looked very elegant.
  • a frilly dress

It seems as though she is vapid and vacuous and just a kind of fun frilly party girl, but deep inside has a roiling inner life.

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Examples

  • So it's an off the shoulder kind of frilly top.

  • Nana was walking next to me in a frilly dress, unusually quiet.

    Academic text (2009)

  • A young girl with long black hair, wearing a frilly white dress.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Then I guess I'll have to wear a frilly hat as well.

    The Sea of Trees (2016)

  • My girlfriend settled down next to me in her frilly white dress.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Dressed in a pink frilly dress with white lace on the bottom.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • "Look at these," Diana had said, pointing to a set of sheer, frilly pink curtains.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The adorable guest rooms, with the frilly canopies on the four-poster beds.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Delightfully, they stand in a row wearing frilly dresses, smiling flirtatiously and holding their saxophones.

    Academic text (1993)

  • She wore a beautiful frilly dress to the party that caught everyone's attention.

Synonyms

ruffled
vsfrilly
1 3.4

Fabric or clothing with small soft folds along the edges

is broader, meaning ornamented with an elaborate trim beyond just gathered edges
ruffly
vsfrilly
1 5.3

Having many small gathered folds of fabric, often on clothes or curtains

is a wider term for ornamental edge or trim, not only many gathers
frilled
vsfrilly
1 3.7

Having small, soft, folded edges on clothes or curtains

is the general ornamental edge or trim idea, not only gathered edging
frou-frou
vsfrilly
  • Archaic
1 9.6

Having a very showy, overly decorated style

is decorative but less extreme and less excessively ornate
froufrou
vsfrilly
  • Archaic
1 8.8

Having too many decorations like lace or ribbons

is decorative while being less extreme and less showy
ruched
vsfrilly
  • Specialized
8.5

Fabric gathered into small folds to make a ruffled look

describes decorative trim more generally, not only the gathered-texture technique
flouncy
vsfrilly
7.8

Clothing that has ruffles or loose folds that move and look showy

is focused on ornamental edge decoration rather than movement or showiness

Antonyms

unadorned
6 5.1

Plain in appearance with no decoration

How Frilly

ornate
  • Literature
26 7.0
ruffled
1 3.4
frilly
16 4.1
plain
208 1.0

Surface Forms

frilly positive

Morphology

frilly = frill (transparent) = frill + y

Meaning is directly derived from 'frill' (a decorative ruffle) + adjectival suffix '-y', so learners who know 'frill' can infer 'frilly'.

Etymology

Frilly comes from the noun frill, which meant a 'small ruffle' or decorative fold of cloth, much like a ruffle on a dress or pillow. So, something frilly is full of pretty, layered edges or lace.