linsey-woolsey

[ lin-zee-wool-zee ]

noun

, plural lin·sey-wool·seys.

1. a coarse fabric woven from linen warp, or sometimes cotton, and coarse wool filling.
2. a garment made from this.
3. Archaic. any mixture that is incongruous or of poor quality; jumble:

   That last speech was a linsey-woolsey of stale platitudes.

linsey-woolsey

/ ˈlɪnzɪˈwʊlzɪ /

noun

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

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 līn; 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

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 )

Example Sentences

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

From Literature

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

From Literature

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 Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg