Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1897-1900
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
CALEERY, adj. and n.
1. adj. "Light; vain; full of mischief" (Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.).
Hence (1) caleeriness, "giddiness; fun; mischief" (Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.); (2) caleeried, frivolously conceived.(2) Uls. 1897 A. McIlroy When Lint was in the Bell vi.:
The members of the fair sex especially were hard on Nancy, and expressed much pity for poor Harvey in the circumstances in which he was placed. "Just a caleeried notion of Nancy's," they affirmed; "she'll be waur afore she's better, am thinkin'."
2. n. "A silly, light-hearted person; a harum-scarum" (Ant. 1931 J.C. in North. Whig (14 Dec.) 9/6).Uls. 1900 A. McIlroy By Lone Craig-Linnie Burn 129:
This'll maybe b' yin' o' thir singin' hizzies . . . these flichty caleeries 'at ir furiver rinnin' tae choir practices.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Caleery adj., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 25 May 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/caleery>
This short survey (just 6 taps) will help us improve the site.
