Standard Lemma guide

bally

adj · adv · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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/ˈbæli/
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æli
CMU ARPABET: B AE1 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2: B EY1 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

adj

Meaning 1

Bloody (used as a mild intensifier).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dated, euphemistic, not-comparable

Examples

He's just a bally idiot.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adv

Meaning 2

Very.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dated, euphemistic, not-comparable

Examples

That was a bally foolish thing to do, old chap!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

noun

Meaning 3

A balaclava.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Multicultural-London-English

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Alteration of bloody.

Clipping of balaclava + -y.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

ballies — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: bally up

Related: none provided

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Changes made: Wiktionary markup was removed and matching senses were grouped; WordNet and CMUdict evidence was merged into the canonical word page. Source quotations with separate cited works are not republished.

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

bally in complete knowledge articles