wild-and-woolly

[ wahyld-n-wool-ee ]

adjective

1. unrestrained; lawless:

   a wild-and-woolly frontier town.

Word History and Origins

Origin of wild-and-woolly¹

First recorded in 1885–90; perhaps originally referring to range-bred cattle

Example Sentences

“Babylon” doesn’t just long for the movie palaces of old, or even the wild-and-woolly world of silent film and the attendant bacchanalia the movie so riotously depicts.

From Los Angeles Times

But Mr. Daniel had no time to convalesce: A self-imposed clock was ticking on his attempt to change careers — to abandon safe-and-steady electrical engineering, a field that his parents had pushed, for the wild-and-woolly movie business, which was his dream.

From New York Times

Capital Fringe Festival: In July, at least 469 artists were scheduled to participate in the 15th edition of the wild-and-woolly Capital Fringe Festival, a sprawling collection of offbeat, experimental theater and dance performances in intimate spaces in Southwest D.C.

From Washington Post

She was raised in the wild-and-woolly politics of Arkansas, the only daughter of former governor Mike Huckabee, and grew up to work on his two unsuccessful presidential campaigns.

From Washington Post

For six seasons on FX’s hit drama “Sons of Anarchy,” Siff played Tara Knowles, the physician wife of a motorcycle-gang leader who could hold her own, and then some, in that wild-and-woolly world.

From Washington Times