Synonyms of willy-nilly

willy-nilly

adverb

ˌwi-lē-ˈni-lē 

as in randomly

without definite aim, direction, rule, or method

they were in a hurry, so they just tossed everything into the room willy-nilly, leaving it to be all sorted out later

Synonyms & Similar Words

• randomly
• haphazardly
• at random
• aimlessly
• haphazard
• casually
• anyway
• erratically
• irregularly
• indiscriminately
• arbitrarily
• carelessly
• anyhow
• informally
• desultorily
• capriciously
• helter-skelter
• hit or miss
• promiscuously
• accidentally
• inadvertently
• anywise
• whimsically
• unwittingly
• unintentionally
• unconsciously
• offhandedly
• unpredictably
• fortuitously
• intermittently
• fitfully
• offhand
• disjointedly
• disconnectedly
• higgledy-piggledy
• spottily
• topsy-turvy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• systematically
• methodically
• carefully
• orderly
• formally
• deliberately
• gingerly
• intentionally
• meticulously
• purposely
• purposefully
• punctiliously

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of willy-nilly

However, while willy-nilly scrubbing is ill-advised, there is more than one way to clean stainless steel. —Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 9 Nov. 2025

Surtain, the reigning defensive player of the year, does not lather such compliments upon wideouts willy-nilly. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2025

Walter Sam believes in the magical power of accurately wielding words as well as the bad juju that comes with spouting them all willy-nilly. —Manuel Muñoz, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025

Many therapists are already willy-nilly entering data about clients and patients into off-the-shelf publicly available LLMs. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025