shaggy

[shag-ee] /ˈʃæg i/
adjective, shaggier, shaggiest.
1.
covered with or having long, rough hair.
2.
untidy; unkempt:
a shaggy person.
3.
rough and matted; forming a bushy mass, as the hair or mane.
4.
having a rough nap, as cloth.
5.
characterized by sloppy planning or execution: a shaggy production of Macbeth.
Origin
1580-90; shag1 + -y1
Related forms
shaggily, adverb
shagginess, noun
Examples from the web for shaggy
  • The shaggy domes, each about ten feet across, are built from cut branches and sealed with mud.
  • Squeeze the topping into shaggy chunks and scatter over the apricots.
  • The edges were frayed, which made the mane authentically shaggy.
  • shaggy gray hair, with a bald spot at the back of her skull.
  • If not exactly a deliberate swindle, it is an endlessly repeated put-on, a shaggy-dog story without a punch line.
  • And it was so great taking her with that big mop of shaggy, hippie hair that she has.
  • Their long shaggy hair protects them from the cold winters and rainy weather.
  • One is a thick, shaggy coat that protects them in winter and falls away as seasons change and temperatures rise.
  • The muskox's shaggy outer coat covers everything but its feet.
  • Then you see a stipple of gray: a herd of sheep, watched by a shepherd on a shaggy-maned horse.
British Dictionary definitions for shaggy

shaggy

/ˈʃæɡɪ/
adjective -gier, -giest
1.
having or covered with rough unkempt fur, hair, wool, etc: a shaggy dog
2.
rough or unkempt
3.
(in textiles) having a nap of long rough strands
Derived Forms
shaggily, adverb
shagginess, noun
Word Origin and History for shaggy
adj.

"rough, coarse, unkempt," 1590s, from shag (n.) + -y (2). Related: Shaggily; shagginess. Earlier was shagged, from Old English sceacgede "hairy;" cf. Old Norse skeggjaðr, Danish skægget "bearded." The shaggy-dog story as a type of joke is attested from 1944, perhaps from vaudeville.