Adjacent Words

wilful definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: done by design; "the insult was intentional"; "willful disobedience" [syn: willful, wilful]
2: habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition [syn: froward, headstrong, self-willed, willful, wilful]

Merriam Webster's

adjective see willful

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (US willful) 1 (of an action or state) intentional, deliberate (wilful murder; wilful neglect; wilful disobedience). 2 (of a person) obstinate, headstrong. Derivatives: wilfully adv. wilfulness n. Etymology: ME f. WILL(2) + -FUL

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wilful Wil"ful, a., Wilfully Wil"ful*ly, adv., Wilfulness Wil"ful*ness, n. See Willful, Willfully, and Willfulness.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Note: in AM, use 'willful' 1. If you describe actions or attitudes as wilful, you are critical of them because they are done or expressed deliberately, especially with the intention of causing someone harm. Wilful neglect of our manufacturing industry has caused this problem... ADJ: ADJ n [disapproval] 2. If you describe someone as wilful, you mean that they are determined to do what they want to do, even if it is not sensible. ...as the beautiful Lara becomes ever more wilful and irresponsible. = headstrong ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. [Written also Willful.] 1. Obstinate, stubborn, perverse, contumacious, refractory, headstrong, unruly, intractable, mulish, dogged, inflexible, heady, self-willed, pig-headed, obdurate, cantankerous. 2. Self-willed, arbitrary, capricious.