fleece

1 of 2

noun

ˈflēs 

1

a

: the coat of wool covering a wool-bearing animal (such as a sheep)

b

: the wool obtained from a sheep at one shearing

2

a

: any of various soft or woolly coverings

b

: a soft bulky deep-piled knitted or woven fabric used chiefly for clothing

fleece

2 of 2

verb

fleeced; fleecing

transitive verb

1

a

: to strip of money or property by fraud or extortion

b

: to charge excessively for goods or services

2

: to remove the fleece from : shear

3

: to dot or cover with fleecy masses

Synonyms

Noun

• coat
• fur
• hair
• jacket
• pelage
• pile
• wool

Verb

• beat
• bilk
• bleed
• cheat
• chisel
• chouse
• con
• cozen
• defraud
• diddle
• do
• do in
• euchre
• fiddle
• flimflam
• gaff
• hose [slang]
• hustle
• mulct
• nobble [British slang]
• pluck
• ream
• rip off
• rook
• screw
• shake down
• short
• shortchange
• skin
• skunk
• squeeze
• stick
• stiff
• sting
• sucker
• swindle
• thimblerig
• victimize

Examples of fleece in a Sentence

Noun

learning how to shear the fleece off a sheep

Verb

Don't let that salesman fleece you.

an unsuspecting tourist fleeced by a scam artist

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The brand recommends one size down from your usual size, as the fabric is stretchy to accommodate the inner fleece. —Quincy Bulin, Parents, 16 Oct. 2024

Faux Shearling Hooded Vest Kind of fur, kind of fleece, and full-on cozy, this hooded vest from Nordstrom is beautiful on its own but would also be great for layering. —Kristine Solomon, Travel + Leisure, 15 Oct. 2024

Verb

In March he was found guilty in Manhattan Federal Court of a string of loan frauds that netted him $6 million, of fleecing a parishioner out of her $90,000 life savings, and of lying about his ties to Adams to extort and try to defraud a Bronx body shop owner in a real estate deal. —John Annese, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2024

There was a time when teams were apprehensive about making trades with the Oakland A’s for fear of being fleeced by Billy Beane and his analytics crew. —Jon Becker, The Mercury News, 30 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English flees, from Old English flēos; akin to Middle High German vlius fleece and perhaps to Latin pluma feather, down

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1537, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

fleece

1 of 2 noun

ˈflēs 

1

: the woolly coat of an animal (as a sheep)

2

a

: any of various soft or woolly coverings

b

: a soft bulky knitted or woven fabric used especially for clothing

fleecy

ˈflē-sē

adjective

fleece

2 of 2 verb

fleeced; fleecing

1

: to rob by trickery

2

: to remove the fleece from : shear