willy-nilly

adverb or adjective

wil·​ly-nil·​ly ˌwi-lē-ˈni-lē 

1

: by compulsion : without choice

2

: in a haphazard or spontaneous manner

Synonyms

• aimlessly
• anyhow
• anyway
• anywise
• desultorily
• erratically
• haphazard
• haphazardly
• helter-skelter
• hit or miss
• irregularly
• randomly

Examples of willy-nilly in a Sentence

they were in a hurry, so they just tossed everything into the room willy-nilly, leaving it to be all sorted out later

Recent Examples on the Web

By slashing government staffing and programs willy-nilly, some agencies may well be unable to function. —Bob Rawitch, Orange County Register, 17 Mar. 2025

In other words, the president couldn't just fire them willy-nilly. —Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 4 Mar. 2025

By definition, since their edit of a randomly sampled set of Earth-trends would be authored with an off-planet sensibility, the selection would be somewhat willy-nilly, with very little earthbound gravitas, and almost no rhyme or reason. —Guy Martin, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025

You might be jammed onto a bus with a horde of others, maybe even separated from your friends, and then poured into balloons willy-nilly. —Marla Jo Fisher, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

alteration of will I nill I or will ye nill ye or will he nill he

First Known Use

1608, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for willy-nilly

• dryly
• highly
• kiley
• shyly
• slyly
• smiley
• wily
• wryly

Kids Definition

willy-nilly

adverb or adjective

wil·​ly-nil·​ly

ˌwil-ē-ˈnil-ē

1

: by force : without choice

rushed us along willy-nilly

2

: in an unpredictable manner

children running about willy–nilly

Etymology

an altered form of the phrase will I nill I or will ye nill ye; nill, an ancient negative form of will, from Old English nyllan, a combination of ne "not" and wyllan "to wish, will"