Word.ws English Dictionary

woobie

/ˈwʊbi/

woobie noun: any object, typically a blanket, garment or stuffed animal, that is used simply for its comforting characteristics; a security blanket.

Noun

woobie (plural woobies)

  1. (US, childish) Any object, typically a blanket, garment or stuffed animal, that is used simply for its comforting characteristics; a security blanket.
  2. (US, endearing) A term of endearment.
  3. (slang) A fictional character, often morally grey or a villain, subjected to constant stress and angst, so as to create pathos within the narrative and increase the reader/viewer's emotional attachment to them.
    • The conflicted portrayal of the character reaches its zenith during the sixth episode where Logan’s relationship with his abusive and morally despicable father solidifies his character into the woobie.2006, Afşar Yegin, "Fan-Textual Television: Narrative Structure, Vituality And Fandon In Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel And Veronica Mars, thesis submitted to Istanbul Bilgi University, page 109
    • In some instances, this characterisation then becomes part of a hurt/comfort fan narrative where the pleasure at the woobie's pain is transmuted into relief at their eventual recovery.2018, Anna Blackwell, Shakespearean Celebrity in the Digital Age: Fan Cultures and Remediation, page 109
  4. (US, slang) A poncho liner.

Forms of woobie

pluralwoobies

Origin of woobie

From the 1983 film Mr. Mom, in which it is a child's word for his security blanket; perhaps from a childish diminutive of *woob (compare plushie, from plush), an alternative pronunciation of wub, from wuv, a baby talk form of love (cf. luv).

Words formed from woobie

Questions about woobie

What does woobie mean?
Woobie means any object, typically a blanket, garment or stuffed animal, that is used simply for its comforting characteristics; a security blanket.
What part of speech is woobie?
Woobie is a noun.
How do you pronounce woobie?
Woobie is pronounced /ˈwʊbi/.
What is the plural of woobie?
The plural of woobie is woobies.

Words near woobie in the dictionary

  1. woo-mongers
  2. woo-woo
  3. woo-wooness
  4. woo-woos
  5. wooable
  6. woobie
  7. woobies
  8. woobification
  9. woobified
  10. woobifies
  11. woobify

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: woobie (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-woobie.wav.

Cite this entry: “woobie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/woobie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.