wilful

[ wil-fuhl ]

adjective

Other words from wilful

  • wil·ful·ly, adverb
  • wil·ful·ness, noun
  • un·wil·ful, adjective
  • un·wil·ful·ly, adverb
  • un·wil·ful·ness, noun

Words Nearby wilful

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wilful in a sentence

  • Observe the wayward boy whose chief inheritance is a wild, wilful nature.

  • Seized of that wilful, daring spirit called Love, her sight was bounded by the little field where she strayed.

  • Eric rose, and resolutely tried to mount the rigging, determined at least to give no ground he could help to their wilful cruelty.

    Eric, or Little by Little | Frederic W. Farrar
  • Mistress Margery Wimpole was a poor, dull creature, having no wilful harm in her, but endowed with neither dignity nor wit.

    A Lady of Quality | Frances Hodgson Burnett
  • A nature passionate, wilful—hardly good-tempered, hardly very clever, but gifted—was expressed in every feature.

British Dictionary definitions for wilful

wilful

US willful

/ (ˈwɪlfʊl) /


adjective
  1. intent on having one's own way; headstrong or obstinate

  2. intentional: wilful murder

Derived forms of wilful

  • wilfully or US willfully, adverb
  • wilfulness or US willfulness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012