woolly
Americanadjective
-
consisting of wool.
a woolly fleece.
-
resembling wool in texture or appearance.
woolly hair.
-
clothed or covered with wool or something resembling it.
a woolly caterpillar.
-
Botany. covered with a pubescence of long, soft hairs resembling wool.
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like the rough, vigorous atmosphere of the early West in America.
wild and woolly.
-
fuzzy; unclear; disorganized.
woolly thinking.
noun
plural
woollies-
Western U.S. a wool-bearing animal; sheep.
-
Usually woollies. a knitted undergarment of wool or other fiber.
-
any woolen garment, as a sweater.
-
Dialect. a dust ball.
adjective
-
consisting of, resembling, or having the nature of wool
-
covered or clothed in wool or something resembling it
-
lacking clarity or substance
woolly thinking
-
botany covered with long soft whitish hairs
woolly stems
-
recalling the rough and lawless period of the early West of America (esp in the phrase wild and woolly )
noun
-
(often plural) a garment, such as a sweater, made of wool or something similar
-
(usually plural) an informal word for sheep
Regionalisms
See dust ball.
Other Word Forms
- woollily adverb
- woolliness noun
Etymology
Origin of woolly
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.
Sora transfixed the tech world by creating seemingly realistic videos of everything from woolly mammoths trekking across a snowy field to a stylish woman walking down a Tokyo street filled with glowing neon signs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
Swapping her usual one-tone trouser suit for a woolly jumper with sparkles, Meloni fielded questions for an hour from the tattoo-covered rapper and his popular co-host.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
At the end of a gravel road, a few children played outdoors, rosy-cheeked in the bitter cold, one wearing a Spiderman woolly hat.
From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026
Fossil evidence also revealed that these warm-adapted hippos lived alongside cold-climate animals such as mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses -- an unusual ecological mix that highlights the complexity of Ice Age environments.
From Science Daily • Oct. 26, 2025
When pressed he admitted that his argument had a woolly component.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
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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.