hilly

IPA/ˈhɪli/
KK[hˈɪli]IPA/ˈhɪli/

hilly — adjective

  • hillypositive
  • hilliercomparative
  • hilliestsuperlative

1. used for land that rises and falls in many small hills instead of staying flat.

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

used for land that rises and falls in many small hills instead of staying flat.

Example

The bus slowed down on the hilly road outside Mateo's village.

collocation: hilly road

Ada grew up in a hilly part of northern Wales near the sea.

pattern: hilly + area/place noun

Common collocations
  • hilly road
  • hilly area
  • hilly countryside
  • hilly region
  • hilly route
  • hilly landscape
Synonyms
  • rolling

    usually gentler and smoother, with softer rises than hilly land

  • mountainous

    much stronger — describes land with high mountains rather than many small hills

  • uneven

    broader — describes ground that is not level, without specifically meaning hills

Antonyms
  • flat

    having level land with little or no rise

  • level

    even in height and not rising into hills

Grammar Patterns

hilly + noun (road, area, countryside, region)

be + hilly

Usage Note

Usually describes roads, regions, or countryside rather than one single hill. It often suggests that walking, cycling, or driving there takes more effort than on flat land.

Common Mistakes

The road is very hill.
The road is very hilly.
'hill' is a noun; use 'hilly' as the adjective for land with many hills.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Hilly describes land with many hills, so the ground keeps rising and falling as you move across it. Rolling is close, but it usually suggests softer, smoother hills and a calmer landscape. Mountainous is much stronger: it describes an area with high mountains, not just repeated small hills. Rugged focuses less on hills themselves and more on rough, hard ground with rocks or sharp changes that make travel difficult. So a village can sit in hilly countryside, a painting may show rolling green fields, and hikers may need special gear in mountainous or rugged terrain.

hilly ↗rolling ↗mountainous ↗rugged ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • fairly hilly
  • quite hilly
  • very hilly
  • surprisingly hilly

Phrases

  • be too hilly for cycling
  • be less hilly than
  • become more hilly farther inland

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Hilly is formed from the noun hill and the ending -y, which often means 'full of' or 'having a lot of'. Hill comes from Old English hyll, meaning a raised area of land. Over time, English speakers used hilly to describe places where the ground is broken up by many small rises instead of staying flat.