different between woolly vs fleecy

English

Alternative forms

• wooly (chiefly used in the US, but less common than woolly even there)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w?li/
• Rhymes: -?li

Etymology 1

From Middle English wolly, equivalent to wool +? -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wullich (“woolly”), Dutch wollig (“woolly”), German wollig (“woolly”), Swedish ullig (“woolly”).

Adjective

woolly (comparative woollier, superlative woolliest)

1. Made of wool.

2. Having a thick, soft texture, as if made of wool.
3. (figuratively, of thinking, principles, etc.) Based on emotions rather than logic.

4. (figuratively) Unclear, fuzzy, hazy, cloudy.
5. (obsolete) Clothed in wool.

Derived terms

• woolly hat
• woolly-headed, wooly-headed
• woolly-minded (British) and (US), wooly-minded (US)

Translations

Noun

woolly (plural woollies)

1. (informal) A sweater or similar garment made of wool.
2. (US, slang) A sheep not yet shorn.
3. A piece of woolwork.

Etymology 2

From woolyback.

Noun

woolly (plural woollies)

1. (Liverpudlian slang, derogatory) A woolly back; someone from the area around Liverpool, not from Liverpool itself.

English

Etymology

fleece +? -y

Adjective

fleecy (comparative fleecier, superlative fleeciest)

1. Resembling or covered in fleece.
   • 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, chapter XX:

     {...} turning to take a last glance into the valley, whence a light mist mounted and formed a fleecy cloud on the skirts of the blue.

   • So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.