See willy-nilly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am willing, [or if] I am not willing.” See will (“to desire, wish”), nill (“to not desire, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"nolinkhead": "1"
},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "22 45 33",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English coordinated pairs",
"parents": [
"Coordinated pairs",
"Terms by etymology"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Some writers chasing money churn out novels willy-nilly.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"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"
},
{
"ref": "1869 April 1, A. A. D., “Twelve Scenes in a Young Lady’s Life. No. IV. A Spring Ramble.”, in The Young Englishwoman. A Volume of Pure Literature, New Fashions, and Pretty Needlework Patterns, volume III, London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler, […], →OCLC, stanza 1, page 220, column 1:",
"text": "I'll own I'm very glad he's come— / To hide my feelings would be silly— / You see I'm not so shy as some, / My thoughts will come out \"willy-nilly.\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"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"
},
{
"ref": "1895 January, Thomas Hardy, “Hearts Insurgent”, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, volume XC, number DXXXVI, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, chapter VIII, page 194, column 2:",
"text": "He says he shall come for me willy-nilly, and father and mother say I must have him! But I don't want to—because—because—I love you best!",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1948 August, Aldous Huxley, “The Script”, in Ape and Essence, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 154:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"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 the consequences or the wishes of those affected; whether willingly or unwillingly."
],
"id": "en-willy-nilly-en-adv-0SoFqCyZ",
"links": [
[
"desired",
"desire#Verb"
],
[
"regard",
"regard#Noun"
],
[
"consequence",
"consequence"
],
[
"wishes",
"wish#Noun"
],
[
"affected",
"affect#Verb"
],
[
"willingly",
"willingly"
],
[
"unwillingly",
"unwillingly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"archaic"
],
"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": "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": "nolens volens"
},
{
"_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": "volens nolens"
},
{
"_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": "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": "3 28 68",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "6 30 64",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English reduplications",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "3 14 84",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "3 16 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "2 27 71",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 29 61",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Albanian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "5 22 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Arabic translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 29 61",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Armenian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "6 25 69",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Catalan translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "13 31 56",
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"_dis": "6 26 68",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
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},
{
"_dis": "10 29 61",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Estonian translations",
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},
{
"_dis": "5 21 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "5 22 73",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "5 21 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with German translations",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "5 20 75",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Greek translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 26 65",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "3 25 72",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Ido translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "3 20 77",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Italian translations",
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},
{
"_dis": "6 25 69",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Korean translations",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "3 20 77",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Latin translations",
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},
{
"_dis": "10 29 61",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Lithuanian translations",
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},
{
"_dis": "13 31 57",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
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{
"_dis": "10 26 65",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "8 25 67",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "4 24 72",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "11 29 60",
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "10 29 61",
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"_dis": "4 20 77",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
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{
"_dis": "5 21 74",
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{
"_dis": "10 29 61",
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{
"_dis": "5 25 70",
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}
],
"examples": [
{
"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": "5 95",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "nahodile"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "miten sattuu"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "einfach so"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "scheinbar zufällig"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "wahllos"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "willkürlich"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "a casaccio"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "per saturam"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "na chybił trafił"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de qualquer jeito"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de qualquer maneira"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tjáp-ljáp",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "тя́п-ля́п"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "a tontas y a locas"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "de cualquier manera"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "seemingly at random — see also haphazardly",
"word": "på måfå"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌ(ˈ)wɪliˈnɪli/",
"tags": [
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"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"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "willy nilly"
}
],
"word": "willy-nilly"
}
{
"etymology_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am willing, [or if] I am not willing.” See will (“to desire, wish”), nill (“to not desire, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"nolinkhead": "1"
},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"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"
},
{
"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": [
"Whether willing or unwilling."
],
"id": "en-willy-nilly-en-adj-JmjcTutV",
"links": [
[
"willing",
"willing"
],
[
"unwilling",
"unwilling"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"archaic"
],
"word": "nilly-willy"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "that happens whether willingly or unwillingly",
"word": "joka tapauksessa tapahtuva"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌ(ˈ)wɪliˈnɪli/",
"tags": [
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"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"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "willy nilly"
}
],
"word": "willy-nilly"
}
{
"categories": [
"English adjectives",
"English adverbs",
"English coordinated pairs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English reduplications",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Requests for review of Albanian translations",
"Requests for review of Mandarin translations",
"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_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am willing, [or if] I am not willing.” See will (“to desire, wish”), nill (“to not desire, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"nolinkhead": "1"
},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Some writers chasing money churn out novels willy-nilly.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"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"
},
{
"ref": "1869 April 1, A. A. D., “Twelve Scenes in a Young Lady’s Life. No. IV. A Spring Ramble.”, in The Young Englishwoman. A Volume of Pure Literature, New Fashions, and Pretty Needlework Patterns, volume III, London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler, […], →OCLC, stanza 1, page 220, column 1:",
"text": "I'll own I'm very glad he's come— / To hide my feelings would be silly— / You see I'm not so shy as some, / My thoughts will come out \"willy-nilly.\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"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"
},
{
"ref": "1895 January, Thomas Hardy, “Hearts Insurgent”, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, volume XC, number DXXXVI, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, chapter VIII, page 194, column 2:",
"text": "He says he shall come for me willy-nilly, and father and mother say I must have him! But I don't want to—because—because—I love you best!",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1948 August, Aldous Huxley, “The Script”, in Ape and Essence, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 154:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"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 the consequences or the wishes of those affected; whether willingly or unwillingly."
],
"links": [
[
"desired",
"desire#Verb"
],
[
"regard",
"regard#Noun"
],
[
"consequence",
"consequence"
],
[
"wishes",
"wish#Noun"
],
[
"affected",
"affect#Verb"
],
[
"willingly",
"willingly"
],
[
"unwillingly",
"unwillingly"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"archaic"
],
"word": "nilly-willy"
},
{
"word": "nolens volens"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"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": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌ(ˈ)wɪliˈnɪli/",
"tags": [
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"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"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "willy nilly"
}
],
"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": "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": "nolens volens"
},
{
"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": "volens nolens"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "whether desired or not; without regard for consequences or wishes of those affected",
"word": "wohl oder übel"
},
{
"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": [
"English adjectives",
"English adverbs",
"English coordinated pairs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English reduplications",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Requests for review of Albanian translations",
"Requests for review of Mandarin translations",
"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_text": "From will I, nill I (also with ye or he instead of I), meaning “[if] I am willing, [or if] I am not willing.” See will (“to desire, wish”), nill (“to not desire, to be unwilling”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most willy-nilly",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"nolinkhead": "1"
},
"expansion": "willy-nilly (comparative more willy-nilly, superlative most willy-nilly)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"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"
},
{
"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": [
"Whether willing or unwilling."
],
"links": [
[
"willing",
"willing"
],
[
"unwilling",
"unwilling"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"archaic"
],
"word": "nilly-willy"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌ(ˈ)wɪliˈnɪli/",
"tags": [
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"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"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "willy nilly"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "that happens whether willingly or unwillingly",
"word": "joka tapauksessa tapahtuva"
}
],
"word": "willy-nilly"
}
Download raw JSONL data for willy-nilly meaning in English (18.3kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). 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.