ghillie
Americannoun
noun
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a type of tongueless shoe with lacing up the instep, originally worn by the Scots
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a variant spelling of gillie
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.
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
The ghillie suit still had a shipping label affixed, addressed to St. Michael’s Rosedale house.
From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
