Linsey-woolsey

adj, noun

adj, noun ·4 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fabric made of both linen and wool. countable, uncountable

    "I had as lieue haue no ſunne, as haue it ſhine faintly, no fire, as a ſmothering fire of ſmall coales, no cloathes, rather then vveare linſey vvolſey."

  2. 2
    a rough fabric of linen warp and wool or cotton woof wordnet
  3. 3
    Worthless material; nonsense; gibberish. archaic, countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "[W]hat linsey-woolsey hast thou to speak […]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Mean; shoddy; of unsuitable composition.

Synonyms

All synonyms
brokenbumpychoppycoarsecorduroycorrugated

Example

More examples

"I had as lieue haue no ſunne, as haue it ſhine faintly, no fire, as a ſmothering fire of ſmall coales, no cloathes, rather then vveare linſey vvolſey."

Etymology

Diminutive of linen and wool. See -y, -ey.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.