WOOLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wooly mean? 

• WOOLY (adjective)
  The adjective WOOLY has 3 senses:

1. having a fluffy character or appearance

2. confused and vague; used especially of thinking

3. covered with dense often matted or curly hairs

  Familiarity information: WOOLY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WOOLY (adjective)

Comparative: woolier   
Superlative: wooliest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having a fluffy character or appearance

Synonyms:

flocculent; woolly; wooly

Similar:

soft (yielding readily to pressure or weight)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Confused and vague; used especially of thinking

Synonyms:

addled; befuddled; muddled; muzzy; woolly; woolly-headed; wooly; wooly-minded

Context example:

woolly-headed ideas

Similar:

confused (mentally confused; unable to think with clarity or act intelligently)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Covered with dense often matted or curly hairs

Synonyms:

woolly; woolly-haired; wooly; wooly-haired

Context example:

woolly lambs

Similar:

haired; hairy; hirsute (having or covered with hair)

Derivation:

wool (outer coat of especially sheep and yaks)

 Context examples 

Both the outer coat and dense wooly undercoat are oily for water-repellence.

(Chesapeake Bay Retriever, NCI Thesaurus)

The new moon of last month, October 27, was wild and wooly and may have introduced chaos in the workplace.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Under the long, oily outer coat is a dense wooly undercoat for protection in frigid water.

(Otterhound, NCI Thesaurus)

In addition to the fox, the team also discovered extinct species of a wooly rhino (Coelodonta thibetana), three-toed horse (Hipparion), Tibetan bharal (Pseudois, known as blue sheep), chiru (Pantholops, known as Tibetan antelope), snow leopard (Uncia), badger (Meles), and 23 other mammals.

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)