Definition

Noun: 1. A coarse, sturdy fabric: A rough, inexpensive textile historically woven with a linen (or sometimes cotton) warp and a wool weft (woof). 2. Something of mixed or inferior quality: By extension, something that is a jumbled or incongruous mixture; speech or writing that is nonsensical or confused.

Examples

• Literal meaning:
  • The peasants' clothing was often made of durable linsey-woolsey.
  • This historical reproduction uses authentic linsey-woolsey for the skirts.
• Figurative meaning:
  • His argument was a linsey-woolsey of half-truths and speculation.
  • The report is a linsey-woolsey of unrelated facts and poor analysis.

Advanced Usage

• Used attributively: The term can function like an adjective to describe something made of or resembling this fabric.
  • She wore a linsey-woolsey dress.
  • The linsey-woolsey mixture of styles in the building was jarring.

Variants and Related Words

• Linsey (noun, archaic): A shorter, less common form referring to the same type of fabric.

Synonyms

• For the fabric: coarse cloth, homespun.
• For the mixture: jumble, hodgepodge, mishmash, farrago, medley.

Idioms

• A linsey-woolsey argument/debate: An argument that is poorly constructed, illogical, or made up of inconsistent parts.
  • The politician's speech was dismissed as a linsey-woolsey argument by the experts.

Noun

1. a rough fabric of linen warp and wool or cotton woof