willy nilly

A form of willy-nilly — Whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected; whether willingly or unwillingly.

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Meanings

adverbwilly nilly (comparative more willy nilly, superlative most willy nilly)

comparative more willy nilly · superlative most willy nilly

  1. alternativeAlternative form of willy-nilly.

    And, while he sleeps, the indwelling Compassion preserves him, willy nilly, from the suicide which, in his waking hours, he has tried so frantically hard to commit.

    1948 August, Aldous Huxley, “The Script”, in Ape and Essence, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 154
    1 more example

    Whenever I see a long handsome neck, willy nilly, the thought will come uppermost—What a capital neck for carving! Those cursed executions! One can't rid one's mind of them.

    1868, [Johann Wolfgang von] Goethe, translated by Arthur Duke Coleridge, Egmont. A Tragedy. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, act II, page 40

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
ridiculous
Cite this entry
APA

willy nilly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/willy%20nilly

MLA

“willy nilly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/willy%20nilly. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “willy nilly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/willy%20nilly.

Source: willy nilly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.