Dyed-in-the-wool
adj ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Having the fibres dyed before they are formed into cloth.
"[…] some Druggets with Thread, that are dyed in the Piece; the others are dyed in the Wool, i. e. the Wool of which they are made, is dyed of several Colours, before it is carded, spun, and weaved."
- 2 Firmly established in one's beliefs or habits; having a specified characteristic, identity, etc. deeply ingrained in one's nature. figuratively, idiomatic
"Smith was a dyed-in-the-wool typist and never really got used to writing on computers."
Example
More examples"He's a dyed-in-the-wool conservative."
Etymology
From the past participle of dye in the wool. The expression comes from the fact that fabric can be dyed in a number of ways. The woven fabric may be dyed after it is complete, or the threads may be dyed before they are woven. When a color is "dyed in the wool," the wool itself is dyed before being spun into threads, so the colour is least likely to fade or change. (Dyes: Webster’s Quotations, Facts and Phrases. Icon Group International. 2008, p. 344.).
More for "dyed-in-the-wool"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.