woollen

woollen — adjective

1. describes clothing, blankets, or other items produced from the fleece of sheep b

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

describes clothing, blankets, or other items produced from the fleece of sheep by knitting or weaving the fibres together.

Example

Tamar wore a thick woollen sweater to keep warm during the mountain hike.

woollen + garment noun (sweater, scarf, coat)

The shop sells woollen blankets made by local artisans in Scotland.

collocation: woollen blanket

Common collocations
  • woollen sweater
  • woollen scarf
  • woollen blanket
  • woollen fabric
  • woollen socks
  • woollen coat
  • woollen cloth
  • woollen hat
  • woollen gloves
Synonyms
  • wool

    can be used as an attributive noun before garments (a wool sweater), but wool refers to the raw fibre while woollen refers to the finished textile item

Antonyms
  • synthetic

    artificially made, not from natural sheep fleece

  • cotton

    made from plant fibre rather than animal fleece

Grammar Patterns

woollen + noun (garment, fabric, or textile item)

Usage Note

American English spells this word <i>woolen</i> (one <i>l</i>). Both spellings refer to items made of wool fibre. The adjective is almost always used before a noun — you would not say <i>This scarf is woollen</i> in natural English; instead say <i>This is a woollen scarf</i>.

Common Mistakes

She bought a woollen dress made of cotton.
She bought a woollen dress made of wool.
If an item is made of wool, woollen is correct, not cotton or synthetic.
The blanket feels woollen.
The blanket is made of woollen fabric.
Woollen is attributive (before a noun); use 'made of wool' or 'wool' as a complement.

2. relating to the business of turning raw sheep fleece into fabric, yarn, or finis

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to the business of turning raw sheep fleece into fabric, yarn, or finished clothing, or to the companies and people involved in that trade.

Example

The woollen industry employs thousands of workers in this region of England.

collocation: woollen industry

Lan's family ran a woollen company that sold fabric to clothing manufacturers.

collocation: woollen company

Common collocations
  • woollen industry
  • woollen trade
  • woollen mills
  • woollen company
  • woollen manufacture
  • woollen business
  • woollen production
Synonyms
  • textile

    broader term covering all fabric production, not limited to wool

  • worsted

    a specific type of woollen fabric made from long-staple wool fibres; more technical and narrower

Grammar Patterns

woollen + noun (industry, trade, manufacturing)

Usage Note

This sense describes the <b>industry or trade</b>, not the products themselves. For the products (garments, fabric), use sense 1. Distinguish from <i>woollen</i> in sense 1: a <i>woollen mill</i> (sense 2) produces <i>woollen fabric</i> (sense 1).

Common Mistakes

She bought a woollen sweater from the woollen factory.' (confusing sense 1 and 2)
She bought a woollen sweater from a clothing factory that makes woollen products.
Use sense 1 for the garment and sense 2 only for the industry or business side.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Woollen specifically describes items made of wool fibre, whether knitted or woven. The noun wool can also be placed before garment names (a wool sweater), but wool refers to the raw fibre itself rather than the finished fabric. Knitted describes the method of construction — interlocking loops of yarn — not the material; a knitted hat could be made of cotton, wool, or acrylic. Fleece describes a soft synthetic fabric designed to mimic wool's insulating properties; a fleece jacket is not made of wool at all. To be precise: a woollen scarf is made of wool; a knitted scarf tells you how it was made, regardless of material; a fleece scarf is synthetic. In everyday language, woollen carries associations of warmth, natural material, and traditional craftsmanship that the alternative terms do not.

woollen ↗wool ↗knitted ↗fleece ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • woollen products
  • woollen goods

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Woollen traces back to Old English wollen, meaning 'made of wool', formed from wull (wool) plus the suffix -en (meaning 'made of' — the same suffix found in wooden and golden). The word has kept its core meaning for over a thousand years, reflecting wool's central role in European textile production. The American English spelling woolen drops one l.