noun
dilly
DIL-ee/dˈɪli/
A remarkable or unusual person or thing.
The enormous tomato is a real dilly beside the ordinary ones.
Etymology
Dilly names an excellent or delightful person or thing, often ironically—hence someone or something remarkable. It may derive from delightful or delicious, or perhaps from a nursery word for “duck”; its origin remains uncertain.
More examples
- The storm was a real dilly, according to the old diary.
- She called the complicated assignment a dilly.
- The comedy’s eccentric aunt is quite a dilly.
Forms
dilly · dillies