-gē, -gi adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: shag (I) + -y
1.
a. : covered with, possessing, or consisting of usually long, coarse, or matted hair
his face was shaggy with a sprouting black beard — G.R.Stewart
an extraordinary growth of shaggy hair on his chest — Frank Sargeson
b. : covered with or consisting of thick, tangled, or unkempt vegetation
cedar, spruce, pine, and balsam find a precarious foothold on the shaggy cliffs — American Guide Series: Minnesota
shaggy garden hedges — F.G.Turnbull
c. : having a rough nap, texture, or surface
a shaggy , cream-colored sports coat — Raymond Chandler
twisted, shaggy tamarisk trees — Phyllis Pearsall
d. : having hairlike processes
shaggy tongue
2.
a. : unkempt or casual in appearance or action
a sad, shabby, shaggy -looking lot — Peter Taylor
b. : rude , unpolished
the rough shaggy boy who had lived so much in the woods — S.V.Benét
c. : casually eccentric, vague, and individualistic
3. : confused and unclear in outline, conception, or thinking
a young novelist … under the spell of … the shaggier manuals of psychoanalysis — Sinclair Lewis
thoughts without words are vague and shaggy — Carl Van Doren