willy-nilly
adverb or adjective
Synonyms
Examples of willy-nilly in a Sentence
Marissa Vonesh, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2023
The ground moves willy-nilly under collegiate sports every day.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Aug. 2023
The good news is cutting you lawn with meticulous precision doesn’t really take much more time than cutting it willy-nilly.
—Bradley Ford, Popular Mechanics, 4 Aug. 2023
Yet, willy-nilly, existing autism research findings, and the resultant therapies and educational strategies, have been applied across the board to all autistics.
—Time, 31 July 2023
The study shows what might happen to the world if people keep polluting willy-nilly before finding a way to take those CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere.
—Justine Calma, The Verge, 26 July 2023
And yet, Indiana Jones isn’t a franchise to rewrite canon willy-nilly.
—Vulture, 30 June 2023
Who at Fox News ever — ever — would have supposed that the guy willing to smear others willy-nilly would similarly bash his colleagues?
—Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 24 Apr. 2023
Magical tech — which no modern thriller can do without, seemingly — is deployed willy-nilly.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'willy-nilly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
alteration of will I nill I or will ye nill ye or will he nill he
1608, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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Cite this Entry
“Willy-nilly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/willy-nilly. Accessed 27 Sep. 2023.
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Kids Definition
willy-nilly
adverb or adjectivean 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"
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