wild and woolly
idiom
chiefly US, informal
: very wild : without order or control
His novels were about the wild and woolly Western frontier.
a wild and woolly love affair
Examples of wild and woolly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Neil Irwin Aug 5, 2024 - Economy Global markets go wild and woolly as U.S. economic outlook shifts
There is no reason that a 0.2 percentage point rise in the U.S. unemployment rate should trigger a 12% collapse in the price of Japanese stocks.
—
Neil Irwin, Axios, 6 Aug. 2024
Another wet, wild and woolly storm is about to slam into Northern California.
—Sarah Linn, Sacramento Bee, 27 Feb. 2024
Ausubel has concocted a wild and woolly global escapade about unbounded scientific experimentation.
—Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2023
Ausubel has concocted a wild and woolly global escapade about unbounded scientific experimentation.
—Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2023
Essentially a scathing series of wild and woolly Williams monologues against the military establishment, Good Morning, Vietnam should delight Williams fans, as well as grunts everywhere.
—Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Dec. 2022
Back from the Thanksgiving holiday, there is a lot of news to get to this week, including a report card on the SLS rocket's performance (excellent) and some wild and woolly news from north of the US border.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 2 Dec. 2022
Many of the stories of these soon-to-be merchant princes are prosaic, but a few are as wild and woolly as the Gold Rush itself.
—Gary Kamiya, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Sep. 2022
He was also gradually converted to the merits of any number of poets whose wild and woolly ways were anathema to the sensible ideals of writers such as Larkin and Kingsley Amis, who were associated with the Movement, into whose ranks Gunn had initially—and rather against his will—been co-opted.
—Mark Ford, The New York Review of Books, 25 May 2022
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Neil Irwin, Axios, 6 Aug. 2024
Another wet, wild and woolly storm is about to slam into Northern California.
—Sarah Linn, Sacramento Bee, 27 Feb. 2024
Ausubel has concocted a wild and woolly global escapade about unbounded scientific experimentation.
—Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2023
Ausubel has concocted a wild and woolly global escapade about unbounded scientific experimentation.
—Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2023
Essentially a scathing series of wild and woolly Williams monologues against the military establishment, Good Morning, Vietnam should delight Williams fans, as well as grunts everywhere.
—Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Dec. 2022
Back from the Thanksgiving holiday, there is a lot of news to get to this week, including a report card on the SLS rocket's performance (excellent) and some wild and woolly news from north of the US border.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 2 Dec. 2022
Many of the stories of these soon-to-be merchant princes are prosaic, but a few are as wild and woolly as the Gold Rush itself.
—Gary Kamiya, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Sep. 2022
He was also gradually converted to the merits of any number of poets whose wild and woolly ways were anathema to the sensible ideals of writers such as Larkin and Kingsley Amis, who were associated with the Movement, into whose ranks Gunn had initially—and rather against his will—been co-opted.
—Mark Ford, The New York Review of Books, 25 May 2022
Dictionary Entries Near wild and woolly
Cite this Entry
“Wild and woolly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20and%20woolly. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share