What is another word for willy-nilly?

Synonyms for willy-nilly
ˈwɪl iˈnɪl iwil·ly-nil·ly

This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word willy-nilly.

Wiktionary0.0 / 0 votes

  1. willy-nillyadverb

    Synonyms:
    nolens volens

  2. willy-nillyadverb

    Whether desired or not.

    Synonyms:
    nolens volens

  3. willy-nillyadverb

    Without regard for consequences or the will of those affected.

    So people chasing money churn out novels willy-nilly.

    Synonyms:
    nolens volens

  4. willy-nillyadverb

    Seemingly at random, haphazardly

    The novel Alice in Wonderland describes a place where random things happen all willy-nilly.

    Synonyms:
    nolens volens

Princeton's WordNet0.0 / 0 votes

  1. randomly, indiscriminately, haphazardly, willy-nilly, arbitrarily, at random, every which wayadverb

    in a random manner

    "the houses were randomly scattered"; "bullets were fired into the crowd at random"

    Synonyms:
    every which way, randomly, promiscuously, indiscriminately, arbitrarily, at random, haphazardly, haphazard, helter-skelter

  2. willy-nillyadverb

    without having a choice

    Synonyms:
    at random, indiscriminately, arbitrarily, randomly, haphazardly, every which way

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words0.0 / 0 votes

  1. willy-nillyadverb

    Synonyms:
    willingly or unwillingly

PPDB, the paraphrase database0.0 / 0 votes

  1. List of paraphrases for "willy-nilly":

    randomly

How to pronounce willy-nilly?

How to say willy-nilly in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

rankingword
#11860randomly
#24981arbitrarily
#58851haphazard
#61162indiscriminately
#88131haphazardly
#209688promiscuously

How to use willy-nilly in a sentence?

  1. Jason Robnett:

    People need to stop reacting, just stay still, if everybody just sits still until the readiness comes up to the right level, that's better than running willy-nilly in every direction.

  2. Stephen Crane:

    It took maybe four months to get this interview and then they willy-nilly cancel it.

  3. Mark Anderson:

    I think the important part to realize that we actually were able to pull off a successful election with checks and balances, we just didn't do willy-nilly e-ballots, they have security that was on them. We have documentation that's on them, we have all the processes to backup and protect why we did what we did.

  4. Omar Khayym:

    Into this Universe, and Why not knowing Nor Whence, like Water, willy-nilly flowing And out of it, as Wind along the Waste, I know not Wither, willy-nilly blowing.

  5. Steady Kangata:

    We need to be vigilant and discourage people who start fires willy nilly.


Translations for willy-nilly

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • chtě nechtě, volky nevolky, nahodileCzech
  • wohl oder übel, volens nolensGerman
  • [[θέλοντας]] [[και]] [[μη]], [[με]] [[το]] [[ζόρι]]Greek
  • quiera o no quiera, sea como sea, de cualquier maneraSpanish
  • emme, miten sattuuFinnish
  • bon gré mal gréFrench
  • a dheòin no a dh'aindeoinScottish Gaelic
  • akár tetszik, akár nem, ha tetszik, ha nemHungarian
  • ուզած-չուզածArmenian
  • volens nolensLatin
  • nori nenoriLithuanian
  • willens nillensDutch
  • chcąc nie chcąc, na chybił trafiłPolish
  • de qualquer maneira, querendo ou não, obrigatoriamente, queira ou não queira, de qualquer jeitoPortuguese
  • волей-неволей, хочешь не хочешь, тяп-ляпRussian
  • хтио не хтио, htio ne htio, hteo ne hteo, хтео не хтеоSerbo-Croatian
  • ister istemezTurkish
  • irekle-ireksezTatar

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"willy-nilly." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 14 Feb. 2025. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/willy-nilly>.

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    An antonym for "pesky"
    A pettish
    B agreeable
    C pestilent
    D plaguey

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