Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for woolly

woolly

or wool·y

[ wool-ee ]

adjective

, wool·li·er, wool·li·est.
  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.



noun

, plural wool·lies.
  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

/ 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 )
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. often plural a garment, such as a sweater, made of wool or something similar
  2. usually plural an informal word for sheep
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈwoollily, adverb
  • ˈwoolliness, noun
Discover More

Other Words From

  • woolli·ness noun
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of woolly1

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

Example Sentences

Most people think of mammoths as the iconic woolly species from the last ice age, which ended around 12,000 years ago.

Wright—the director behind Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver—has loved Sparks for a long time, and he’s the ideal guide through their woolly story.

From Time

These creatures, much like the woolly mammoth, faced an even more confusing set of unlucky situations that included a rapid warming of the globe which ultimately ended the ice age.

Nuclear DNA from woolly rhinos that lived between around 18,000 and 14,000 years ago will be needed to determine when in that brief window of time the population of these animals plummeted.

Hunters could have added to woolly rhinos’ woes, but the main extinction distinction goes to climate change, Lord contends.

An army of Wildlings, some giants, and a woolly mammoth or two?

Rockefeller Republicans have long gone the way of the woolly mammoth.

And every second belief in the world is a woolly superstition.

In a typical post, she wears a crazy-looking pinafore with an outrageous collar, round-frame shades, and thick, woolly knee socks.

Did she learn from the New York 23rd District election that being a moderate Republican is a lot like being a woolly mammoth?

I have drawn him gray and woolly, and you can see that he is very proud because he has a wreath of flowers in his hair.

What do you suppose Sunbridge will say to your new expressions à la the wild and woolly West?

The woolly stems of the millet, likewise, defied their insatiable appetites.

They are just as much a manufactured article as the little woolly "baa-baas" in the baby's Noah's Ark.

Cautiously then she reached out and touched the soft, woolly cuff of his blanket-wrapper.

Advertisement

Related Words

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Woolleywoolly aphid