woolly

or wool·y

[ wool-ee ]

/ ˈwʊl i /

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See synonyms for: woolly / woolliness on Thesaurus.com

adjective, wool·li·er, wool·li·est.

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.

like the rough, vigorous atmosphere of the early West in America: wild and woolly.

fuzzy; unclear; disorganized: woolly thinking.

noun, plural wool·lies.

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.

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Origin of woolly

First recorded in 1580–90; wool + -y¹

regional variations of woolly

10. See dust ball.

OTHER WORDS FROM woolly

wool·li·ness, noun

Words nearby woolly

woolgrower, Woollcott, woolled, woollen, Woolley, woolly, woolly aphid, woolly bear, woollybutt, woolly-headed, woolly mammoth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use woolly in a sentence

Most people think of mammoths as the iconic woolly species from the last ice age, which ended around 12,000 years ago.
We Sequenced the Oldest Ever DNA From Million-Year-Old Mammoths|David Díez-del-Molino|February 21, 2021|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.
The Sparks Brothers, a Sundance Delight, Tells the Grand Story of This Enduringly Enigmatic Art-Pop Duo|Stephanie Zacharek|February 3, 2021|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.
Climate change probably contributed to the woolly rhino’s rapid demise|Sara Kiley Watson|August 25, 2020|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.
Climate change, not hunters, may have killed off woolly rhinos|Bruce Bower|August 13, 2020|Science News

Hunters could have added to woolly rhinos’ woes, but the main extinction distinction goes to climate change, Lord contends.
Climate change, not hunters, may have killed off woolly rhinos|Bruce Bower|August 13, 2020|Science News
An army of Wildlings, some giants, and a woolly mammoth or two?
Team USA Goalie Tim Howard Goes Viral: All the Best Memes|Melissa Leon|July 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rockefeller Republicans have long gone the way of the woolly mammoth.
Tom Petri's Primary Challenge May Mark End Of Rockefeller Republicanism|Ben Jacobs|April 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And every second belief in the world is a woolly superstition.
William H. Gass: How I Write|Noah Charney|March 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In a typical post, she wears a crazy-looking pinafore with an outrageous collar, round-frame shades, and thick, woolly knee socks.
Meet Ophelia Horton, London’s 12-Year-Old Fashion Blogger: The New Tavi?|Tom Sykes|August 2, 2012|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?
Next Stop, the Senate|Sally Denton|November 7, 2009|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.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
What do you suppose Sunbridge will say to your new expressions à la the wild and woolly West?
The Sunbridge Girls at Six Star Ranch|Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman) Porter
The woolly stems of the millet, likewise, defied their insatiable appetites.
A Fortune Hunter; Or, The Old Stone Corral|John Dunloe Carteret
They are just as much a manufactured article as the little woolly "baa-baas" in the baby's Noah's Ark.
The Red Cow and Her Friends|Peter McArthur
Cautiously then she reached out and touched the soft, woolly cuff of his blanket-wrapper.
Molly Make-Believe|Eleanor Hallowell Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for woolly

woolly

sometimes US wooly

/ (ˈwʊlɪ) /

adjective woollier or woolliest or sometimes US woolier or wooliest

consisting of, resembling, or having the nature of wool

covered or clothed in wool or something resembling it

lacking clarity or substancewoolly thinking

botany covered with long soft whitish hairswoolly stems

US recalling the rough and lawless period of the early West of America (esp in the phrase wild and woolly)

noun plural woollies or sometimes US woolies

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

Western US and Australian (usually plural) an informal word for sheep

Derived forms of woolly

woollily, adverbwoolliness, noun

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

woolly

or wool·y

Origin of woolly

regional variations of woolly

OTHER WORDS FROM woolly

Words nearby woolly

Words related to woolly

How to use woolly in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for woolly

sometimes US wooly

Derived forms of woolly