variants
or less commonly wooly
woollier; woolliest
1
a
: resembling wool
b
: of, relating to, or bearing wool
2
a
: lacking in clearness or sharpness of outline
a woolly TV picture
b
: marked by mental confusion
woolly thinking
3
: marked by boisterous roughness or lack of order or restraint
where the West is still woolly—
Paul Schubert
—used especially in the phrase wild and woolly
Paul Schubert
woolliness
noun
variants
or less commonly wooly
or woolie
plural woollies also woolies
1
: a garment made from wool
especially
: underclothing of knitted wool
—usually used in plural
2
Western US and Australia
: sheep
Examples of woolly in a Sentence
Adjective
the dog's woolly coat will require a lot of grooming
still had a water bed and a woolly coverlet on top of it
Noun
Get out your winter woollies.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 1 Nov. 2024
Neandertal numbers also took a hit as their larger prey—woolly mammoths, bison and woolly rhinoceros—dwindled during the Ice Ages.
—Daniel Vergano, Scientific American, 11 Oct. 2024
Nicholas Shaxson, Foreign Affairs, 7 July 2021
Some specific morphological and ecological features of the fossil woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blumenbach 1799)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
—Conor Feehly, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for woolly 
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Adjective
Some believe the 13 segments or bands of the woolly worm represent the 13 weeks of winter.
—Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 1 Nov. 2024
Neandertal numbers also took a hit as their larger prey—woolly mammoths, bison and woolly rhinoceros—dwindled during the Ice Ages.
—Daniel Vergano, Scientific American, 11 Oct. 2024
Noun
In a 1994 Foreign Affairs article, the economist Paul Krugman skewered some of the woolly thinking on national competitiveness of the type favored at Davos and other jamborees of the global elite.
—Nicholas Shaxson, Foreign Affairs, 7 July 2021
Some specific morphological and ecological features of the fossil woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blumenbach 1799)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
—Conor Feehly, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for woolly
Dictionary Entries Near woolly
Cite this Entry
“Woolly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woolly. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
woolly
1 of 2 adjective
wool·ly
variants
also wooly
woollier; woolliest
1
a
: of, relating to, or bearing wool
woolly animals
b
: resembling wool
2
: marked by mental confusion
woolly thinking
3
: marked by roughness or disorder
the wild and woolly West
woolliness
noun
woolly
2 of 2 noun
wool·ly
variants
also wooly
or woolie
ˈwu̇l-ē
plural woollies
: a woolen garment
especially
: underclothing of knitted wool
—usually used in plural
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