as in stubborn
sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion
a self-willed toddler who refused to take her shoes off in the examining room
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-willed
Adjective
-
More than a day later, firefighters remained on scene to douse stubborn hotspots.—
Naveen Dhaliwal,
CBS News,
19 Apr. 2026 -
Use a cooktop scraper or soft sponge to remove stubborn residue while the cooktop is still warm for easier cleaning.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Following their Play-In loss, Leonard was non-committal about his future, but Frank was adamant about the team’s intentions.—
Janis Carr,
Oc Register,
17 Apr. 2026
-
The police were very adamant from early on in the investigation that no one in the Guthrie family was involved.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
16 Apr. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Self-willed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-willed. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
