as in restraint
the power to control one's actions, impulses, or emotions
trying to summon the willpower to resist buying any more books before finishing the unread ones I already have
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Recent Examples of willpower
That experience left me with an indelible lesson about the overweening willpower that carried otherwise ordinary men to such heights, or depths, of achievement.
—
Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
Framing medical treatment as a failure of willpower ignores the science — potentially delaying and stigmatizing life-saving interventions.
—Jia Shen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
In that shift, money becomes less about individual willpower and more about coordination.
—Karen “kh” Koehler
february 23, Miami Herald, 23 Feb. 2026
This approach allows people to remain engaged in exercise without turning recovery into a test of willpower.
—Dana Santas, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for willpower
Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
Framing medical treatment as a failure of willpower ignores the science — potentially delaying and stigmatizing life-saving interventions.
—Jia Shen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
In that shift, money becomes less about individual willpower and more about coordination.
—Karen “kh” Koehler
february 23, Miami Herald, 23 Feb. 2026
This approach allows people to remain engaged in exercise without turning recovery into a test of willpower.
—Dana Santas, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for willpower
Recent Examples of Synonyms for willpower
Noun
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The city isn’t well-positioned to raise the money to address this fact in a sensible way, given limits on its taxing authority and current budgetary restraints.—
Kevin Cole,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
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The prosecutor argued that Officer Noonan showed restraint that day, only shooting when Fitzsimmons performed the tap-rack and pointed the gun.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Holding back a child can be a good option to allow children extra time to develop self-control and self-regulation skills vital for the classroom, said Stanford professor Thomas Dee, who has studied red-shirting.—
Kate Sequeira,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
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That matters because adolescence is a time when feelings get bigger before self-control fully catches up.—
Becky Kennedy
Sheryl Ziegler,
CNBC,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Willpower.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/willpower. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
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