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 )

noun

1. often plural a garment, such as a sweater, made of wool or something similar
2. See sheep
   usually plural an informal word for sheep

Derived Forms

• ˈwoolliness, noun
• ˈwoollily, adverb

Other Words From

• woolli·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of woolly¹

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

Example Sentences

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

From Singularity Hub 

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.

From Popular-Science

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.

From Science News

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

From Science News

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• woolen