dyed-in-the-wool
UK/ˌdaɪd ɪn ðə ˈwʊl/
dyed-in-the-wool adjective: having the fibres dyed before they are formed into cloth.
Adjective
dyed-in-the-wool (comparative more dyed-in-the-wool, superlative most dyed-in-the-wool)
- Having the fibres dyed before they are formed into cloth.
- […] some Druggets with Thread, that are dyed in the Piece; the others are dyed in the Wool, i. e. the Wool of which they are made, is dyed of several Colours, before it is carded, spun, and weaved.1747, John Smith, chapter 156, in Chronicon Rusticum-Commerciale; or, Memoirs of Wool, &c., volume 2, London: T. Osborne, page 431
- That cloth will keep its colour best that is dyed in the wool; and the vessel will longest retain the scent of that liquor with which it is first seasoned.1810 January, “Redeeming the Time”, in The Evangelical Magazine, volume 18, page 7
- Firmly established in one's beliefs or habits; having a specified characteristic, identity, etc. deeply ingrained in one's nature.
- Smith was a dyed-in-the-wool typist and never really got used to writing on computers.
- John Major was described by his opponents as a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative.
- Synonyms:
- inveterate
dyed-in-the-wool meaning in Malayalam and Thai
dyed-in-the-wool in Malayalam
- confirmed, inveterate, entrenched
- അഭിപ്രായം മാറ്റുകയില്ലാത്ത, ജാത്യാലുള്ളതു തൂത്താൽ പോകാത്ത, സ്ഥിരശീലമായ, വിശ്വാസത്തിൽനിന്ന് അണുവിട മാറാത്ത, ചൊട്ടയിലെ ശീലം ചുടലവരെ പുലർത്തുന്ന, രൂഢമൂലമായ
dyed-in-the-wool in Thai
- firmly established in a person's beliefs or habits
- เข้ากระดูกดำ kâo-grà-dùuk-dam
Examples of dyed-in-the-wool in a sentence
- For all he says he isn’t, he’s a bit of an ultramontane, in practice though not in theory, and we can’t have that in the Church of England, we must stay dyed-in-the-wool Anglican.1956, Rose Macaulay, chapter 23, in The Towers of Trebizond, London: Collins:
- Our president is no lover of Jews and more than likely a dyed-in-the-wool anti-Semite […]2004, Philip Roth, chapter 8, in The Plot Against America, London: Jonathan Cape, page 304:
Synonyms of dyed-in-the-wool
Forms of dyed-in-the-wool
| comparative | more dyed-in-the-wool |
|---|---|
| superlative | most dyed-in-the-wool |
Origin of dyed-in-the-wool
From the past participle of dye in the wool. The expression comes from the fact that fabric can be dyed in a number of ways. The woven fabric may be dyed after it is complete, or the threads may be dyed before they are woven. When a color is "dyed in the wool," the wool itself is dyed before being spun into threads, so the colour is least likely to fade or change. (Dyes: Webster’s Quotations, Facts and Phrases. Icon Group International. 2008, p. 344.).
Questions about dyed-in-the-wool
- What does dyed-in-the-wool mean?
- Dyed-in-the-wool means having the fibres dyed before they are formed into cloth.
- What is dyed-in-the-wool in Malayalam?
- Dyed-in-the-wool in Malayalam is അഭിപ്രായം മാറ്റുകയില്ലാത്ത, ജാത്യാലുള്ളതു തൂത്താൽ പോകാത്ത, സ്ഥിരശീലമായ. See Dyed-in-the-wool meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use dyed-in-the-wool in a sentence?
- For all he says he isn’t, he’s a bit of an ultramontane, in practice though not in theory, and we can’t have that in the Church of England, we must stay dyed-in-the-wool Anglican.
- What part of speech is dyed-in-the-wool?
- Dyed-in-the-wool is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce dyed-in-the-wool?
- Dyed-in-the-wool is pronounced /ˌdaɪd ɪn ðə ˈwʊl/ (UK).
Words near dyed-in-the-wool in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dyed-in-the-wool (page history and authors); dyed-in-the-wool (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-dyed-in-the-wool.ogg, en-au-dyed-in-the-wool.ogg.
Cite this entry: “dyed-in-the-wool.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dyed-in-the-wool. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.