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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of ghillie

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

Example Sentences

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

Mannequins in ghillie suits stand guard in the shadows.

From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2022

The ghillie suit still had a shipping label affixed, addressed to St. Michael’s Rosedale house.

From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 2022

A clergyman of very unclerical habits was salmon-fishing in Scotland in 1872, and made use of strong expressions which very much disgusted the ghillie who accompanied him.

From Lighter Moments from the Notebook of Bishop Walsham How by How, Frederick Douglas