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willfulness

willfulness

2 6.8
A strong wish to do things your own way and ignore rules
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪl.fəl.nəs/
  • US
translation icon : voluntad
  • The child's willfulness often gets her in trouble at school for not listening to her teacher.

And I think there's something about the tension between, you know, willfulness.

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Examples

  • In fact your willfulness is a great part of your charm.

  • Was it out of willfulness or out of stupidity you let this man see you?

  • Not out of willfulness, but because I can't not do this work you taught me to love.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Can there be something beyond the constructivism and willfulness of modern civilization?

    Academic text (1995)
  • And so they fantasize about putting all of that willfulness into the arena on their behalf.

  • It's just your willfulness.

  • I understand your feelings... ...but it is said that rashness, willfulness and recklessness all lead to ruin.

  • They are willful, certainly, but then... who are you and I to complain of willfulness?

  • While farming follows a rigid schedule of planting and exploitation, nomadism requires constant decisions and initiative, which instill willfulness and independence.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The discrepancies that exist in the functioning of the LD/G individual are often attributed to laziness, inattentiveness, and willfulness.

    Academic text (1992)

Synonyms

stubbornness
vswillfulness
21 3.6

Refusing to change your mind or actions even when there are good reasons

is more about active choice to follow personal wishes rather than mere inflexibility
obstinacy
vswillfulness
3 7.6

Refusing to change your mind or actions even when others ask you to

is driven by personal pleasure and choice rather than only rigidity
obstinance
vswillfulness
1 7.9

Being stubborn and refusing to change your mind

is about choosing to act freely rather than merely resisting change
fractiousness
vswillfulness
1 9.9

A tendency to be easily annoyed and hard to control

involves acting to please oneself deliberately rather than just being irritable
unruliness
vswillfulness
1 7.2

A tendency to be difficult to control and to disobey rules

is an internal personal choice to act freely rather than mere external disorder
self-will
vswillfulness
6.5

A strong wish to do things your own way even when others tell you not to

is a general tendency to act independently often causing disobedience
undiscipline
vswillfulness
9.9

Not being able to control yourself or follow rules

is acting by choice to disobey rather than simply lacking control

Antonyms

173 3.6

Training people to follow rules, often using punishment or strict control

171 5.0

Obeying rules or orders from people in charge

How Willful

intransigence
10 8.7
obstinacy
3 7.6
willfulness
  • US
2 6.8
compliance
171 5.0

Surface Forms

willfulness singular
willfulness singular
willfullness singular

Morphology

willfulness = willful (transparent) = will + ful + ness

Standard noun formation from the adjective 'willful' with '-ness' indicating the state or quality; meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

The word willfulness comes from the simple English word will meaning 'desire' or 'choice', plus the endings -ful and -ness that together mean 'full of will'. So, willfulness describes someone who acts on their own wishes — often being stubborn or refusing to follow others' rules.