linsey-woolsey

[lin-zee-wool-zee]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

plural

linsey-woolseys

a coarse fabric woven from linen warp, or sometimes cotton, and coarse wool filling.
a garment made from this.
Archaic.��any mixture that is incongruous or of poor quality; jumble.
That last speech was a linsey-woolsey of stale platitudes.

linsey-woolsey

/ ˈ��ɪ�Գ�ɪˈ��ʊ��ɪ /

noun

a thin rough fabric of linen warp and coarse wool or cotton filling
a strange nonsensical mixture or confusion

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Word History and Origins

Origin of linsey-woolsey¹

1425–75; late Middle English lynsy wolsye literally, linen cloth, wool cloth, equivalent to lyn ( Old English ��ī��; linen ) + -sy, variant of say cloth (< Old French saie; akin to Medieval Latin sagia kind of weave, Latin sagum cloak) + wol wool + -sye, variant of say

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Word History and Origins

Origin of linsey-woolsey¹

C15: probably from Lindsey, Suffolk village where the fabric was first made + _wool (with rhyming suffix -sey )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

He sat on the ground, his feet bare, his linsey-woolsey blouse veined with dirt, his dark face caked with mud.

From

Those skimpy sleeves did not even cover her elbows, and the scratchy linsey-woolsey cloth kept her thin shoulders constantly twitching.

From

Dressed in their fringed linsey-woolsey hunting-shirts, with their muskets in their hands, they made a novel marine corps as ever trod the deck of a battle-ship.

From

Most of the women in the fort wore linsey-woolsey frocks of the plainest cut, and, while some had Indian moccasins on their feet, the majority were barefoot.

From

I held on to the big looking' glass for four years, but at last it had to go, and then I just gave up and put on a linsey-woolsey gown.

From

linsey linstock

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