1
as in stubbornness
a steadfast adherence to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion
her unceasing willfulness eventually wore down her critics and opponents
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rebellion
refusal to obey
the trainer was able to correct our dog's willfulness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for willfulness
Noun
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The final season picks up right where season 2 left off, with the deadly games resuming after Seong Gi-hun’s failed rebellion and Hwang Jun-ho continuing his search for the elusive island.—
Regina Kim,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025 -
Luckily, the late ’70s and the early ’80s helped reframe that perception, loosening the bounds of traditional beauty standards amid the era of punk rebellion.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
30 June 2025
Noun
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Your experience illustrates the importance of persistence and following up.—
Christopher Elliott The Travel Troubleshooter,
Sun Sentinel,
30 June 2025
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The theme is echoed in videos exploring contemporary Australian bark-cloth painting, and the persistence of masquerade traditions across Africa.—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
Noun
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Small acts of defiance are happening in real life, too.—
Suzanne Rowan Kelleher,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
-
Four years later, an America-first cultural crackdown has freed the Met to cast off the hair shirt of reckoning and celebrate its diverse holdings in a spirit of defiance.—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
Noun
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This seemed to me to stem not from carelessness or spite but obstinacy.—
erin Khuê Ninh
June 17,
Literary Hub,
17 June 2025
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Campbell’s thirst to learn protected him from obstinacy.—
Brooks Kubena,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Noun
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But also injuries and ailments at all the wrong times, as well as overt self-will at times.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
16 Feb. 2025
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So for those of us torn between watching the sun get blotted out and getting blotto keeping our attention on a particularly good rock show, this exercise in multi-tasking was a real contest of self-will.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
9 Apr. 2024
Noun
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Misbehaviors tagged as disobedience affect Black students disproportionately and are the justification in a third of all suspension and expulsions.—
Meredith Kolodner,
USA TODAY,
1 Apr. 2024
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Will the Ruska Roma turn on one of its own for disobedience?—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
10 June 2025
Noun
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The Home Service Insurance segment experienced a decline in premiums, attributed to strategic actions to improve sales quality and persistency, as well as economic pressures such as inflation.—
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom,
Quartz,
13 Mar. 2025
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The Home Service Insurance segment experienced a decline in premiums, attributed to strategic actions to improve sales quality and persistency, as well as economic pressures such as inflation.—
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom,
Quartz,
13 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In fact, to close observers of the war, Putin’s intransigence and determination to take more territory at whatever the cost is not surprising.—
Lawrence D. Freedman,
Foreign Affairs,
18 June 2025
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However, in recent days, the stalling nature of U.S. negotiations with Iran, and growing frustration on the part of President Donald Trump with Iranian intransigence, created an opening for Israeli action, and Netanyahu's government took it.—
Ilan Berman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Willfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/willfulness. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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