Wurley
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An Australian indigenous shelter made from small branches with the leaves still attached. Australia, South
"I took a walk amongst them [the First Nations of the Adelaide Plains] who were in their wurlies, saw a collection of naked boys and girls, men and women, either entirely or half so. They are quite innocent in this respect and the women think nothing of (stalking) bolt upright in perfect nudity."
- 2 A settlement made up of such shelters. Australia, South, broadly
"But latterly they came in good numbers, and commenced a nightly system of annoyance by dancing their corroberies:[…]. Finding remonstrance of no avail, one evening, when they were all seated quietly at the wurlie [footnote: Encampment.], I fired a charge of small shot into the midst of them, and retired to the hut: in the morning they had all disappeared."
Example
More examples"I took a walk amongst them [the First Nations of the Adelaide Plains] who were in their wurlies, saw a collection of naked boys and girls, men and women, either entirely or half so. They are quite innocent in this respect and the women think nothing of (stalking) bolt upright in perfect nudity."
Etymology
Possibly from Kaurna.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.