See willy-nilly on Wiktionary
{
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"expansion": "[if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
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{
"args": {
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"expansion": "[or if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
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],
"etymology_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am/ye are/he is willing, [or if] I am/ye are/he is not willing.” See will (“to desire, to wish, to be willing”), nill (“to not desire, to not wish, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
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]
},
{
"form": "willy nilly",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
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},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"wil‧ly-nil‧ly"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "18 41 42",
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"source": "w+disamb"
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55
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"text": "Some writers chasing money churn out novels willy-nilly.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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37,
48
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],
"ref": "1868, [Johann Wolfgang von] Goethe, translated by Arthur Duke Coleridge, Egmont. A Tragedy. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, act II, page 40:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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101
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158
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"ref": "1889, Walter Besant, “A Slight Thing at the Best”, in For Faith and Freedom […], volume II, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 243:",
"text": "[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.",
"type": "quote"
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"ref": "1954, Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 36:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected; whether willingly or unwillingly."
],
"id": "en-willy-nilly-en-adv-N1f8nE5P",
"links": [
[
"desire",
"desire"
],
[
"regard",
"regard"
],
[
"consequence",
"consequence"
],
[
"wish",
"wish"
],
[
"affect",
"affect"
],
[
"willingly",
"willingly"
],
[
"unwillingly",
"unwillingly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "nilly-willy"
},
{
"word": "nolens volens"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "ṭawʕan ʔaw karhan",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "šāʔa man šāʔa waʔabā man ʔabā",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "شاءَ مَن شاءَ وَأَبَى مَن أَبَى"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "uzac-čʻuzac",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ուզած-չուզած"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "kama tʻe akama",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "կամա թե ակամա"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "vulgui o no vulgui"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "chtě nechtě"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "volky nevolky"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "willens nillens"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "tahes-tahtmata"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "halusimme tai emme"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "miten sattuu"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "bon gré mal gré"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "wohl oder übel"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ob man will oder nicht"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "nolens volens"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "ekón ákon",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "εκών άκων"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"note": "with force",
"roman": "me to zóri",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "με το ζόρι"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"note": "θέλοντας και μη (thélontas kai mi, literally “wanted or not”)",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "akár tetszik, akár nem"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ha tetszik, ha nem"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "így is, úgy is"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "kénytelen-kelletlen"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "io",
"lang": "Ido",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "vole o nevole"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "volente o nolente"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"roman": "silteun joteun",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "싫든 좋든"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "la",
"english": "nolens volens",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "volens nolens"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "lt",
"lang": "Lithuanian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "nori nenori"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "chcąc nie chcąc"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "querendo ou não"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "queira ou não queira"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "obrigatoriamente"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "vólej-nevólej",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "во́лей-нево́лей"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xóčešʹ ne xóčešʹ",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "хо́чешь не хо́чешь"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "a dheòin no a dh'aindeoin"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "iochd air n-achd"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic"
],
"word": "хтео не хтео"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic"
],
"word": "хтио не хтио"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "hteo ne hteo"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "htio ne htio"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "guste o no guste"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "quiera o no quiera"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "quiérase o no"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "sea como sea"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "velis nolis"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "nolens volens"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "tt",
"lang": "Tatar",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "irekle-ireksez"
},
{
"_dis1": "99 1",
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ister istemez"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "18 41 42",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English coordinated pairs",
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"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "14 25 61",
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"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 27 57",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English reduplications",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "19 43 38",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English rhymes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "8 11 81",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "17 12 72",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
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{
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{
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{
"_dis": "13 22 65",
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{
"_dis": "16 27 57",
"kind": "other",
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{
"_dis": "13 22 65",
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"name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
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{
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{
"_dis": "11 18 72",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
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{
"_dis": "11 19 71",
"kind": "other",
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{
"_dis": "11 18 72",
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"_dis": "9 15 76",
"kind": "other",
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{
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{
"_dis": "12 21 67",
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{
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"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
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{
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"name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
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{
"_dis": "12 20 68",
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"bold_text_offsets": [
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68,
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],
"text": "The novel Alice in Wonderland describes a place where things happen willy-nilly.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Seemingly at random; haphazardly."
],
"id": "en-willy-nilly-en-adv-wmEjVgi2",
"links": [
[
"Seemingly",
"seemingly"
],
[
"random",
"random"
],
[
"haphazardly",
"haphazardly"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Seemingly at random; haphazardly."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "nahodile"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "miten sattuu"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "einfach so"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "scheinbar zufällig"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "wahllos"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "willkürlich"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "a casaccio"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "per saturam"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "na chybił trafił"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de qualquer jeito"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de qualquer maneira"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tjáp-ljáp",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "тя́п-ля́п"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "a tontas y a locas"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de cualquier manera"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "på måfå"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"enpr": "wĭl′ē-nĭl′ē"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iːˈnɪl.iː/",
"tags": [
"General-Australian",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iˈnɪl.i/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Scotland"
]
},
{
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},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwəl.iːˈnəl.iː/",
"tags": [
"New-Zealand"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwil.iːˈnil.iː/",
"tags": [
"India"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɪli"
}
],
"word": "willy-nilly"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "if"
},
"expansion": "[if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "or if"
},
"expansion": "[or if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am/ye are/he is willing, [or if] I am/ye are/he is not willing.” See will (“to desire, to wish, to be willing”), nill (“to not desire, to not wish, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
},
{
"form": "willy nilly",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"nolinkhead": "1"
},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"wil‧ly-nil‧ly"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "18 41 42",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English coordinated pairs",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "19 43 38",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English rhymes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
18,
29
]
],
"ref": "1877, Alfred Tennyson, Harold: A Drama, London: Henry S. King & Co., →OCLC, Act V, scene v, page 129:",
"text": "[S]omeone saw thy willy-nilly nun / Vying a tress against our golden fern.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
29,
40
]
],
"ref": "1882, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Promise of May”, in Locksley Hall Sixty Years After etc., London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1886, →OCLC, Act II, page 119:",
"text": "O my God, if man be only / A willy-nilly current of sensations— / Reaction needs must follow revel—yet— / Why feel remorse, he, knowing that he must have / Moved in the iron grooves of Destiny?",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"That happens whether willingly or unwillingly."
],
"id": "en-willy-nilly-en-adj-NZqkQbKD",
"links": [
[
"willingly",
"willingly"
],
[
"unwillingly",
"unwillingly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "nilly-willy"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "that happens whether willingly or unwillingly",
"word": "joka tapauksessa tapahtuva"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "that happens whether willingly or unwillingly",
"word": "jak popadnie"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"enpr": "wĭl′ē-nĭl′ē"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iːˈnɪl.iː/",
"tags": [
"General-Australian",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iˈnɪl.i/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Scotland"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-us-willy-nilly.oga",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e4/En-us-willy-nilly.oga/En-us-willy-nilly.oga.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/En-us-willy-nilly.oga"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwəl.iːˈnəl.iː/",
"tags": [
"New-Zealand"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwil.iːˈnil.iː/",
"tags": [
"India"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɪli"
}
],
"word": "willy-nilly"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English adverbs",
"English coordinated pairs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English reduplications",
"English rhymes",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Requests for review of Albanian translations",
"Requests for review of Mandarin translations",
"Rhymes:English/ɪli",
"Rhymes:English/ɪli/4 syllables",
"Terms with Albanian translations",
"Terms with Arabic translations",
"Terms with Armenian translations",
"Terms with Catalan translations",
"Terms with Czech translations",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Estonian translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Greek translations",
"Terms with Hungarian translations",
"Terms with Ido translations",
"Terms with Italian translations",
"Terms with Korean translations",
"Terms with Latin translations",
"Terms with Lithuanian translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations",
"Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations",
"Terms with Tatar translations",
"Terms with Turkish translations"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "if"
},
"expansion": "[if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
},
{
"args": {
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},
"expansion": "[or if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am/ye are/he is willing, [or if] I am/ye are/he is not willing.” See will (“to desire, to wish, to be willing”), nill (“to not desire, to not wish, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
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]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
},
{
"form": "willy nilly",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
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},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"wil‧ly-nil‧ly"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
44,
55
]
],
"text": "Some writers chasing money churn out novels willy-nilly.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
37,
48
]
],
"ref": "1868, [Johann Wolfgang von] Goethe, translated by Arthur Duke Coleridge, Egmont. A Tragedy. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, act II, page 40:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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90,
101
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[
147,
158
]
],
"ref": "1889, Walter Besant, “A Slight Thing at the Best”, in For Faith and Freedom […], volume II, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 243:",
"text": "[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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
86,
97
]
],
"ref": "1954, Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 36:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected; whether willingly or unwillingly."
],
"links": [
[
"desire",
"desire"
],
[
"regard",
"regard"
],
[
"consequence",
"consequence"
],
[
"wish",
"wish"
],
[
"affect",
"affect"
],
[
"willingly",
"willingly"
],
[
"unwillingly",
"unwillingly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "nilly-willy"
},
{
"word": "nolens volens"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
68,
79
]
],
"text": "The novel Alice in Wonderland describes a place where things happen willy-nilly.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Seemingly at random; haphazardly."
],
"links": [
[
"Seemingly",
"seemingly"
],
[
"random",
"random"
],
[
"haphazardly",
"haphazardly"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Seemingly at random; haphazardly."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"enpr": "wĭl′ē-nĭl′ē"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iːˈnɪl.iː/",
"tags": [
"General-Australian",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iˈnɪl.i/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Scotland"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-us-willy-nilly.oga",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e4/En-us-willy-nilly.oga/En-us-willy-nilly.oga.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/En-us-willy-nilly.oga"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwəl.iːˈnəl.iː/",
"tags": [
"New-Zealand"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwil.iːˈnil.iː/",
"tags": [
"India"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɪli"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "ṭawʕan ʔaw karhan",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا"
},
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "šāʔa man šāʔa waʔabā man ʔabā",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "شاءَ مَن شاءَ وَأَبَى مَن أَبَى"
},
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "uzac-čʻuzac",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ուզած-չուզած"
},
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "kama tʻe akama",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "կամա թե ակամա"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "vulgui o no vulgui"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "chtě nechtě"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "volky nevolky"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "willens nillens"
},
{
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "tahes-tahtmata"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "halusimme tai emme"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "miten sattuu"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "bon gré mal gré"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "wohl oder übel"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ob man will oder nicht"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "nolens volens"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "ekón ákon",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "εκών άκων"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"note": "with force",
"roman": "me to zóri",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "με το ζόρι"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"note": "θέλοντας και μη (thélontas kai mi, literally “wanted or not”)",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "akár tetszik, akár nem"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ha tetszik, ha nem"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "így is, úgy is"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "kénytelen-kelletlen"
},
{
"code": "io",
"lang": "Ido",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "vole o nevole"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "volente o nolente"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"roman": "silteun joteun",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "싫든 좋든"
},
{
"code": "la",
"english": "nolens volens",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "volens nolens"
},
{
"code": "lt",
"lang": "Lithuanian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "nori nenori"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "chcąc nie chcąc"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "querendo ou não"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "queira ou não queira"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "obrigatoriamente"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "vólej-nevólej",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "во́лей-нево́лей"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xóčešʹ ne xóčešʹ",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "хо́чешь не хо́чешь"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "a dheòin no a dh'aindeoin"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "iochd air n-achd"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic"
],
"word": "хтео не хтео"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic"
],
"word": "хтио не хтио"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "hteo ne hteo"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "htio ne htio"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "guste o no guste"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "quiera o no quiera"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "quiérase o no"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "sea como sea"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "velis nolis"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "nolens volens"
},
{
"code": "tt",
"lang": "Tatar",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "irekle-ireksez"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "ister istemez"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "nahodile"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "miten sattuu"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "einfach so"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "scheinbar zufällig"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "wahllos"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "willkürlich"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "a casaccio"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "per saturam"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "na chybił trafił"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de qualquer jeito"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de qualquer maneira"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tjáp-ljáp",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "тя́п-ля́п"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "a tontas y a locas"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de cualquier manera"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "på måfå"
}
],
"word": "willy-nilly"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English adverbs",
"English coordinated pairs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English reduplications",
"English rhymes",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Requests for review of Albanian translations",
"Requests for review of Mandarin translations",
"Rhymes:English/ɪli",
"Rhymes:English/ɪli/4 syllables",
"Terms with Albanian translations",
"Terms with Arabic translations",
"Terms with Armenian translations",
"Terms with Catalan translations",
"Terms with Czech translations",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Estonian translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Greek translations",
"Terms with Hungarian translations",
"Terms with Ido translations",
"Terms with Italian translations",
"Terms with Korean translations",
"Terms with Latin translations",
"Terms with Lithuanian translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations",
"Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations",
"Terms with Tatar translations",
"Terms with Turkish translations"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "if"
},
"expansion": "[if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "or if"
},
"expansion": "[or if]",
"name": "sqbrace"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am/ye are/he is willing, [or if] I am/ye are/he is not willing.” See will (“to desire, to wish, to be willing”), nill (“to not desire, to not wish, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
},
{
"form": "willy nilly",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"nolinkhead": "1"
},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"wil‧ly-nil‧ly"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
18,
29
]
],
"ref": "1877, Alfred Tennyson, Harold: A Drama, London: Henry S. King & Co., →OCLC, Act V, scene v, page 129:",
"text": "[S]omeone saw thy willy-nilly nun / Vying a tress against our golden fern.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
29,
40
]
],
"ref": "1882, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Promise of May”, in Locksley Hall Sixty Years After etc., London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1886, →OCLC, Act II, page 119:",
"text": "O my God, if man be only / A willy-nilly current of sensations— / Reaction needs must follow revel—yet— / Why feel remorse, he, knowing that he must have / Moved in the iron grooves of Destiny?",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"That happens whether willingly or unwillingly."
],
"links": [
[
"willingly",
"willingly"
],
[
"unwillingly",
"unwillingly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "nilly-willy"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"enpr": "wĭl′ē-nĭl′ē"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iːˈnɪl.iː/",
"tags": [
"General-Australian",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɪl.iˈnɪl.i/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Scotland"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-us-willy-nilly.oga",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e4/En-us-willy-nilly.oga/En-us-willy-nilly.oga.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/En-us-willy-nilly.oga"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwəl.iːˈnəl.iː/",
"tags": [
"New-Zealand"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwil.iːˈnil.iː/",
"tags": [
"India"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɪli"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "that happens whether willingly or unwillingly",
"word": "joka tapauksessa tapahtuva"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "that happens whether willingly or unwillingly",
"word": "jak popadnie"
}
],
"word": "willy-nilly"
}
Download raw JSONL data for willy-nilly meaning in All languages combined (18.7kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-01 using wiktextract (9a214a4 and 1b6da77). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.