1
2
as in to want
to see fit
do as you will—I wash my hands of the whole affair
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in restraint
the power to control one's actions, impulses, or emotions
she kept her face still by sheer force of will
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in choice
the act or power of making one's own choices or decisions
you cannot force me to do anything against my own will
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of will
David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones continued his hot start to the 2025 season in relief of Brock Purdy on Thursday night, willing his team to a 26-23 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
—Reice Shipley, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025
Consensus on why and how things happened, of course, can be used to exert terrible will, and so perhaps there might be some potential good to be had in all this chaos.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for will
Verb
His birth overshadowed by his family’s greatest tragedy, Daniel found succor in movies and willed himself into the dreamworld of Hollywood.
—David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones continued his hot start to the 2025 season in relief of Brock Purdy on Thursday night, willing his team to a 26-23 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
—Reice Shipley, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
Noun
The truth was half of them didn’t even need a will, regardless of how simple, though no lawyer in the history of American jurisprudence had ever said so to a paying client.
—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025
Consensus on why and how things happened, of course, can be used to exert terrible will, and so perhaps there might be some potential good to be had in all this chaos.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for will
Recent Examples of Synonyms for will
Verb
-
Markus Breitenecker, chief operating officer, is leaving his post with immediate effect.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister and was assassinated in 2022 at a campaign rally, two years after leaving office.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But to a man, every one of the returning players wanted a win.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
20 Oct. 2025
-
On a strictly statistical basis, what Newsom wants to do to Republican representation in California has parallels to what Deep South states used to do to Black voters for much of the 20th century.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The ship brings history and perhaps some English restraint to the world’s cruise capital.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
18 Oct. 2025
-
D’Angelo understood the ways in which restraint can be infinitely more haunting—and more alluring—than aggression.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
How self-reflection operates matters because it will always be needed to make wiser choices about our toughest challenges.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
18 Oct. 2025
-
The styling move — boots tucked cleanly under denim — is a classic styling choice for a reason.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But following outcry from U.S. bishops, public backlash, and even a meandering demur from Pope Leo XIV, the award is no longer being bequeathed.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Oct. 2025
-
There are also wooden pews made for the school’s Bond Chapel and 72,000 glass slides from the art-history department, all of which were bequeathed to Gates over the years.—
Elizabeth Cantrell,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Your favorite party dip meets stovetop chicken and rice in this creamy, cheesy dish that will please the whole family.—
Elizabeth Nelson,
Southern Living,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Gone is the sense that Maggie is desperate to please Alma; so too is Alma’s interest in supporting Maggie.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
To make determinations about its rate policy and other decisions to help the economy, the Fed relies heavily on official economic statistics that are collected and disseminated by the government.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN Money,
22 Oct. 2025
-
At September’s United Nations Climate Summit, President Xi Jinping reinforced that determination by announcing an absolute target that China will reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 10% from peak levels by 2035.—
Sunny Tan,
Sourcing Journal,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Lyra’s quest to understand Dust brings her into confrontation with human and other worldly forces who champion moral absolutism over imagination, ignorance over knowledge, authoritarianism over free will and cold, disinterested rationality over empathy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Oct. 2025
-
In this scheme, free will was feeble, and sin could be blamed on dark forces inhabiting the body.—
Shai Tubali,
Big Think,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Will.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/will. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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