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

Many attendees tapped into the nostalgic feeling of these pieces by styling them with fleeces, windbreakers and baseball caps. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 6 Feb. 2025

Merino wool and fleece can often be machine washed on a delicate and/or cold cycle, but should not be tumble dried. —Jessica MacDonald, Travel + Leisure, 30 Jan. 2025

Verb

Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey provide upgrades: After Joe Staley retired, the 49ers fleeced Washington to get Williams to play left tackle on April 25, 2022 in exchange for third- and fifth-round draft picks. —Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2025

General manager Sean Marks fleeced five first-round picks from the Knicks in exchange for a forward who never made an All-Star team and hadn’t been named to an All-Defensive team since 2022. —C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025

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