willy-nilly
/ˌwɪl.iːˈnɪl.iː/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.55 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
Whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected; whether willingly or unwillingly.
adv
adj
That happens whether willingly or unwillingly.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "[I]f you love him not, then you can love me, and, therefore, can come to please yourself, willy-nilly. What! am I to be thwarted in such a trifle? Willy-nilly, I say, I will marry thee. Come—we waste the time."
- "The outer world is what we wake up to every morning of our lives, is the place where, willy-nilly, we must try to make our living."
- "The novel Alice in Wonderland describes a place where things happen willy-nilly."
- "Some writers chasing money churn out novels willy-nilly."
- "[S]omeone saw thy willy-nilly nun / Vying a tress against our golden fern."
Etymology
Literally, “Be one willing to, be one unwilling to”. From will I, nill I (“whether I want to or not”, with both verbs in the subjunctive), reflecting the old (viz. pre-Great Vowel Shift) pronunciation of I as ee, not yet as eye. Conflated with will he, nill he (with silent h) and will ye, nill ye (with yod dropping), meaning likewise “be he/you willing or not”. For more, refer to the individual component words: * will (“to desire, to wish, to be willing”) (archaic) * nill (“to not desire or wish, to be unwilling”) (obsolete) Compare Latin volens nolens, velim nōlim and English harum-scarum, which have this same meaning.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌwɪl.iːˈnɪl.iː/
- British English: /ˌwɪl.iːˈnɪl.iː/