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

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

The Species in Peril report warns others could face a similar fate, including the high brown fritillary butterfly and rainbow-coloured Snowdon leaf beetle, Arctic-Alpine pea mussel, woolly feather-moss and eyed chestnut wrinkle-lichen.

From BBC • Nov. 24, 2025

But as the climate warmed, the woolly mammoths gradually vanished, with the last small herds surviving on remote Arctic islands until just 4,000 years ago.

From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2025

Mr. Justice Dana was a stout and florid man, dressed in a black silk robe and a great woolly white wig.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes

Related Words

• flocculent