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
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Recent Examples of willy-nilly
Who wants one’s neighbors to build willy-nilly?
—
Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025
But don't just toss them in the fridge willy-nilly.
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 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
If two divorced women can attend a party, then women will start divorcing willy-nilly.
—Alice Burton, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for willy-nilly
Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025
But don't just toss them in the fridge willy-nilly.
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 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
If two divorced women can attend a party, then women will start divorcing willy-nilly.
—Alice Burton, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for willy-nilly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for willy-nilly
randomly
Adverb
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Kenan Thompson is also randomly there as a restaurant patron who wants free semen.—
Rima Parikh,
Vulture,
5 Oct. 2025
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These options let the computer randomly generate numbers for you.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Willy-nilly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/willy-nilly. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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