woolly
/ˈwʊli/
woolly adjective: made of wool.
Adjective
woolly (comparative woollier, superlative woolliest)
- Made of wool.
- Put on a woolly jumper and turn down the thermostat.
- Sporting a woolly cardigan with four buttons on top of an Oxford smock without a collar, our man has a faintly folksy look about him, calling to mind a zingaro or a gypsy, a carny or a Mongol, but also (switching to a wholly distinct mythology and iconography) a hippy strumming his guitar in a...1995 [1969], Gilbert Adair, transl., A Void, translation of La Disparition by Georges Perec
- Having a thick, soft texture, as if made of wool.
- woolly hair
- There was nothing left in the fruit bowl but a brown banana and a couple of woolly pears.
- Unclear, fuzzy, hazy, cloudy.
- That's the sort of woolly thinking that causes wars to start.
- To call David Lean's Dr Zhivago a translation of Pasternak's novel is not only to disregard the specificity of film art, but to make such woolly use of the word ‘translation’ as to fit it to refer to any kind of transformation. Knitting included.2011, David Bellos, chapter 29, in Is that a Fish in Your Ear?
- Clothed in wool.
- woolly breedersc. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Cross; irritable.
- […] and don't get woolly because some of your little "deals" don't come off. You'd soon consider yourself the superior of God Almighty Himself if He didn't set you in your place once in a while.1911, Shoe and Leather Journal, volume 25, page 27
- Uncivilized and unruly.
- wild and woolly
Noun (1)
woolly (plural woollies)
- A sweater or similar garment made of wool.
- `I've got a rotten cold and I'm not taking my woollies off until it's better.'1965, James Holledge, What Makes a Call Girl?, London: Horwitz Publications, page 82
- Being an innocent Australian abroad in a European winter, I had taken with me every winter woolly I could borrow or squeeze out of friends and associates.1987, Kerry Cue, Hang On To Your Horses Doovers, page 83
- A sheep not yet shorn.
- A piece of woolwork.
Noun (2)
woolly (plural woollies)
- A woolly back; someone from the area around Liverpool, not from Liverpool itself.
woolly meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
woolly in Tamil
- கம்பளியால் மூடப்பட்ட, கம்பளியாகத் தோன்றுகிற, கம்பளியால் செய்யப்பட்ட, தெளிவற்ற, குழப்பமுள்ள, குழம்பிய
woolly in Urdu
- پشم نما, اون جیسا, اون کا بنا, اونی
woolly in Malayalam
- രോമംനിറഞ്ഞ, കമ്പിളിരോമം കൊണ്ടുള്ള
woolly in Kannada
- ಉಣ್ಣೆಯ ಬಟ್ಟೆಗಳು, ಉಣ್ಣೆಯಂಥ ಬಟ್ಟೆಗಳು, ಉಣ್ಣೆಯು ಬೆರೆತ ಬಟ್ಟೆಗಳು, ಉಣ್ಣೆಯಿಂದ ಮಾಡಿದ, ಉಣ್ಣೆಯಂತಹ, ಅನಿಶ್ಚಿತ
Examples of woolly in a sentence
- Its ʽcore faunaʼ consisted of the woolly mammoth, woolly rhino, saiga, muskox and the arctic fox.
- The ice age was nearly two million years old by the time the woolly mammoth evolved.
- Despite the heat, he wears a woolly hat and a waistcoat over his salwar kameez.
Forms of woolly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | woollier |
| superlative | woolliest |
| alternative form | wooly |
| Noun | |
| plural | woollies |
Origin of woolly
From Middle English wolly, equivalent to wool + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wullich (“woolly”), Dutch wollig (“woolly”), German wollig (“woolly”), Swedish ullig (“woolly”).
From woolly back.
Words formed from woolly
- wild and woolly
- woolly adelgid
- woolly aphid
- woollyback
- woolly bear
- woolly bear caterpillar
- woolly bluecurls
- woolly fringe moss
- woolly-haired
- woolly hat
- woolly-head
- woolly-headed
- woolly hippopotamus
- woollyish
- woolly lemur
- woolly mammoth
- woolly marbles
- woolly-minded
- woolly monkey
- woolly mouse
- woolly mouse opossum
- woolly nightshade
- woolly opossum
- woolly-pated
- woolly pate
- woolly-pate
- woolly poison
- woolly rhino
- woolly rhinoceros
- woolly woofter
- woolly worm
Phrases with woolly
- woolly back
- woolly hats
- woolly mice
- woolly backs
- woolly bears
- woolly pated
- woolly worms
- woolly aphids
- woolly lemurs
- woolly rhinos
- woolly monkeys
- woolly adelgids
16 more phrasesFewer phrases
- woolly mammoths
- woolly opossums
- woolly woofters
- woolly nightshades
- brown woolly monkey
- brown woolly monkeys
- common woolly monkey
- Bemaraha woolly lemur
- Cleese's woolly lemur
- common woolly monkeys
- Cleese's woolly lemurs
- hemlock woolly adelgid
- hemlock woolly adelgids
- woolly bear caterpillars
- John Cleese's woolly lemur
- John Cleese's woolly lemurs
Words that rhyme with woolly
Questions about woolly
- What does woolly mean?
- Woolly means made of wool.
- What is woolly in Tamil?
- Woolly in Tamil is கம்பளியால் மூடப்பட்ட, கம்பளியாகத் தோன்றுகிற, கம்பளியால் செய்யப்பட்ட. See Woolly meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is woolly?
- Woolly can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce woolly?
- Woolly is pronounced /ˈwʊli/.
Words near woolly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: woolly (page history and authors); woolly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); woolly (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); woolly (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); woolly (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-woolly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “woolly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/woolly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.