woolly

Or wool·y

[wool-ee]

adjective

woollier, woolliest 

1. consisting of wool.

   a woolly fleece.

2. resembling wool in texture or appearance.

   woolly hair.

3. clothed or covered with wool or something resembling it.

   a woolly caterpillar.

4. Botany.,  covered with a pubescence of long, soft hairs resembling wool.

5. like the rough, vigorous atmosphere of the early West in America.

   wild and woolly.

6. fuzzy; unclear; disorganized.

   woolly thinking.

noun

plural

woollies 

1. Western U.S.,  a wool-bearing animal; sheep.

2. Usually woollies. a knitted undergarment of wool or other fiber.

3. any woolen garment, as a sweater.

4. Dialect.,  a dust ball.

woolly

/ ˈwʊlɪ /

adjective

1. consisting of, resembling, or having the nature of wool

2. covered or clothed in wool or something resembling it

3. lacking clarity or substance

   woolly thinking

4. botany covered with long soft whitish hairs

   woolly stems

5. recalling the rough and lawless period of the early West of America (esp in the phrase wild and woolly )

noun

1. (often plural) a garment, such as a sweater, made of wool or something similar

2. (usually plural) an informal word for sheep

Other Word Forms

• woolliness noun
• woollily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of woolly¹

First recorded in 1580–90; wool + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Manuel, who has ridden the woolly beasts five times, tells the kids that he hung on best when he gripped the sheep’s shoulders.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

When his county team-mates were conducting their pre-season media duties in March, Stokes was jogging between cones in a woolly hat and leggings.

Read more on BBC

These are salad days for the likes of Joseph Uscinski, who spends his time peering down rabbit holes and poking in the dark spaces where weird and woolly things grow.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It's not just Siberia and an engineered “woolly mammoth” we should worry about, though.

Read more on Salon

The company’s other de-extinction hopes include reviving the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• flocculent