Willy-nilly
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˌwɪliˈnɪli/
Alternative forms
Origin
As used originally,‘will he, nill he’ or ‘will ye, nill ye’, which means ‘be he willing, be he unwilling’; see will, nill.
Willy-nilly, World Wide Words, by Michael Quinion
Full definition of willy-nilly
Adverb
willy-nilly
- Whether desired or not.
- 1954, Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, Chatto & Windus, page 36: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.
- 1894, Thomas Hardy, Hearts Insurgent, in Harper's Magazine, Volume XC, Number 536, page 195:He says he shall come for me willy-nilly, and father and mother say I must have him!
- Without regard for consequences or the will of those affected.So people chasing money churn out novels willy-nilly.
- Seemingly at random, haphazardlyThe novel Alice in Wonderland describes a place where random things happen all willy-nilly.