willy-nilly

adverb or adjective

wil·​ly-nil·​ly ˌwi-lē-ˈni-lē 

1

: by compulsion : without choice

2

: in a haphazard or spontaneous manner

Synonyms

• aimlessly
• anyhow
• anyway
• anywise
• desultorily
• erratically
• haphazard
• haphazardly
• helter-skelter
• hit or miss
• irregularly
• randomly

Examples of willy-nilly in a Sentence

they were in a hurry, so they just tossed everything into the room willy-nilly, leaving it to be all sorted out later

Recent Examples on the Web

Further complicating Sony’s expansion of the Spider-Man universe is that Sony can’t use Tom Holland’s live-action MCU character willy-nilly. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2024

But today, retailers can sign up customers willy-nilly, without knowing whether there is sufficient supply capacity in ERCOT. —Ed Hirs, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

These are the people who, despairing of finding their way out honestly, simply smash and bash their way through the corn willy-nilly. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 19 Oct. 2024

What seems at first like willy-nilly playfulness is actually carefully ordered design inspired by the rule of thirds, a governing aesthetic principle of fine arts that subdivides a canvas or object into nine equal parts along two horizontal and two vertical lines. —Oren Hartov, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration of will I nill I or will ye nill ye or will he nill he

First Known Use

1608, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

willy-nilly

adverb or adjective

wil·​ly-nil·​ly

ˌwil-ē-ˈnil-ē

1

: by force : without choice

rushed us along willy-nilly

2

: in an unpredictable manner

children running about willy–nilly

Etymology

an altered form of the phrase will I nill I or will ye nill ye; nill, an ancient negative form of will, from Old English nyllan, a combination of ne "not" and wyllan "to wish, will"