Synonyms of voluntary

voluntary

adjective

ˈvä-lən-ˌter-ē 

1

as in volunteer

done, made, or given with one's own free will

a voluntary contribution to the school's fund-raising drive

Synonyms & Similar Words

• volunteer
• willing
• spontaneous
• volitional
• elective
• conscious
• uncoerced
• optional
• unforced
• self-imposed
• discretionary
• freewill
• impulsive
• willful
• deliberate
• instinctive
• intentional
• unpremeditated
• knowing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• involuntary
• compelled
• forced
• mandatory
• nonvoluntary
• compulsory
• enforced
• necessary
• coerced
• unwilled
• obligatory
• required
• will-less
• nonelective
• ordered

2

as in optional

subject to one's freedom of choice

participation in the resort's recreational activities is strictly voluntary

Synonyms & Similar Words

• optional
• elective
• discretionary
• alternative
• unnecessary
• unwanted
• alternate
• chosen
• unneeded
• dispensable

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• mandatory
• compulsory
• obligatory
• required
• nonvoluntary
• necessary
• nonelective
• essential
• requisite
• indispensable

3

as in conscious

made, given, or done with full awareness of what one is doing

the legal distinctions between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter

Synonyms & Similar Words

• conscious
• deliberate
• intended
• intentional
• willed
• willful
• purposeful
• purposive
• planned
• knowing
• calculated
• optional
• volunteer
• elective
• witting
• thoughtful
• reasoned
• discretionary
• designed
• set
• considered
• premeditated
• weighed
• advised
• studied
• measured
• premeditative
• prepense

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unintentional
• random
• inadvertent
• accidental
• chance
• incidental
• unwitting
• haphazard
• involuntary
• sudden
• mandatory
• compulsory
• aimless
• necessary
• desultory
• purposeless
• nondeliberate
• abrupt
• impetuous
• nonpurposive
• obligatory
• forced
• required
• spontaneous
• hit-or-miss
• casual
• instinctive
• ordered
• impromptu
• coerced
• impulsive
• nonelective
• extemporaneous
• unforced
• unpremeditated

Synonym Chooser

How is the word voluntary different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of voluntary are deliberate, intentional, and willing. While all these words mean "done or brought about of one's own will," voluntary implies freedom and spontaneity of choice or action without external compulsion.

a voluntary confession

Where would deliberate be a reasonable alternative to voluntary?

While the synonyms deliberate and voluntary are close in meaning, deliberate implies full consciousness of the nature of one's act and its consequences.

deliberate acts of sabotage

When is it sensible to use intentional instead of voluntary?

Although the words intentional and voluntary have much in common, intentional stresses an awareness of an end to be achieved.

the intentional concealment of vital information

When could willing be used to replace voluntary?

The synonyms willing and voluntary are sometimes interchangeable, but willing implies a readiness and eagerness to accede to or anticipate the wishes of another.

willing obedience

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of voluntary

Subpoenas demanding testimony before a grand jury in that false statements probe were issued in spring, then abruptly withdrawn in favor of voluntary interviews. — ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026

Casinos offer voluntary self-exclusion programs for compulsive gamblers; birth plans allow devotees of natural labor to deny their future selves an epidural. — Meghan O’Gieblyn, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026

For instance, my company partnered with a chemical manufacturer to develop a voluntary N2O abatement project. — Bill Flederbach, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2026

Colonizers call it voluntary emigration, but there is nothing voluntary about fleeing after your home has been bombed, your fields poisoned, your water cut off and your child buried. — Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026