Word.ws English Dictionary

dyed in the wool

dyed in the wool is the simple past and past participle of dye in the wool.

dyed in the wool is the alternative spelling of dyed-in-the-wool.

Meaning of dye in the wool

Verb

dye in the wool (third-person singular simple present dyes in the wool, present participle dyeing in the wool, simple past and past participle dyed in the wool)

  1. To dye woolen fibers before they are spun into thread.
    • The circumstance mentioned in the last two lines shows that it was usual to dye in the wool, as is sometimes done in England.1838, The Saturday magazine, volume XII, page 108

Meaning of dyed-in-the-wool

Adjective

dyed-in-the-wool (comparative more dyed-in-the-wool, superlative most dyed-in-the-wool)

  1. 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
  2. (figuratively, idiomatic) 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.
    Synonyms:
    inveterate

Forms of dyed in the wool

comparativemore dyed in the wool
superlativemost dyed in the wool

Questions about dyed in the wool

What is dyed in the wool the simple past and past participle of?
Dyed in the wool is the simple past and past participle of dye in the wool.

Words near dyed in the wool in the dictionary

  1. dyeability
  2. dyeable
  3. dyebath
  4. dyebaths
  5. dyed
  6. dyed in the wool
  7. Dyed Moroz
  8. dyed-in-the-wool
  9. dyehouse
  10. dyehouses
  11. dyeing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dyed in the wool (page history and authors); dye in the wool (page history and authors); dyed-in-the-wool (page history and authors). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: 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.