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ghillie

American  
[gil-ee] / ˈgɪl i /
Or gillie

noun

  1. a low-cut, tongueless shoe with loops instead of eyelets for the laces, which cross the instep and are sometimes tied around the ankle.


ghillie British  
/ ˈɡɪlɪ /

noun

  1. a type of tongueless shoe with lacing up the instep, originally worn by the Scots

  2. a variant spelling of gillie

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of ghillie

1590–1600; see gillie; apparently a type of shoe originally worn by Scottish hunting guides

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The Glasgow-born actor played the loyal ghillie of the fictional Highland estate Glenbogle in all 64 episodes of the popular BBC Scotland series between 2000 and 2005.

From BBC Apr. 15, 2026

The medallion of venison on my plate came from a deer shot by one of the restaurant’s waiters who spends summers as a ghillie, a hunting and fishing guide.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 16, 2026

His filthy clothes were torn into vertical strips, like one of the ghillie suits hunters and military snipers use for camouflage.

From Salon Aug. 5, 2025

In what might be the video’s climax, a slow-motion, smeary animation of a figure in a fluorescent ghillie suit starts raving to deep, pulsing bass.

From New York Times Nov. 10, 2022

My pride forbids; I’d rather be a ghillie on the old estate, or a keeper, than proud laird of it all.”

From Kenneth McAlpine A Tale of Mountain, Moorland and Sea by Stables, Gordon

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