woolly

American  

[wool-ee] / ˈwʊl i /

Or wooly

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.

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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 British  

/ 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 )

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noun

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

2. (usually plural) an informal word for sheep

Regionalisms

See dust ball.

Other Word Forms

• woollily adverb
• woolliness noun

Etymology

Origin of woolly

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

Example Sentences

Mr. Ellis’s music can generally be described as woolly folk-rock mixed with a few jazzy inflections.

From The Wall Street Journal

There was a comical incident when he turned the focus knob and unwittingly brought the face of a distant woolly sheep into close-up view.

From Literature

When it is not possible to keep rooms heated to 18C, he recommends wearing gloves, warm socks and a woolly hat, eating a higher carbohydrate diet and generating more body heat by moving around.

From BBC

Researchers from Stockholm University have -- for the first time ever -- managed to successfully isolate and sequence RNA molecules from Ice Age woolly mammoths.

From Science Daily

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

Related Words

• flocculent