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

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

Related Words

• flocculent