willies
The English word “willies” has 1 meaning listed here.
noun
- A feeling of nervousness or fear.
Etymology
The meaning "spell of nervousness", recorded since 1896, stems perhaps from the woollies, a dialectal term for "nervous uneasiness", probably in reference to the physical itchiness of wool garments. Or it might be a play on words relating to the ballet Giselle, performed in Paris in 1846, where the stage is flooded by the Wilis, who are the spooky, ephemeral, beautiful but evil ghosts of virgins…
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More English words
- willie wagtail
- willie-waught
- willied
- willier
- Williford
- willing
- willing horse
- willing suspension of disbelief
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.