nolens volens
Americanadverb
adverb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So far Poincar� has not made public what he thinks of this "dinky little plan," but, nolens volens, it seems he will have to let the British in.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Emperor took in Her Majesty, the King, nolens, volens, had to conduct me, but gave me neither word nor look.
From Secret Memoirs: The Story of Louise, Crown Princess by Fischer, Henry W. (Henry William)
A monstrous arrangement, thus to betroth young people, mere children often, nolens volens, but a very common one at the period.
From The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West by Rogers, William Henry Hamilton
Just at this point Frau Rosamunda plucks her spouse by the sleeve and forces him, nolens volens, to retire with her.
From 'O Thou, My Austria!' by Schubin, Ossip
My old garde-chasse insisted on my starting early this morning, nolens volens, to certain lochs six or seven miles off, in order, as he termed it, to take our 'satisfaction' of the swans.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
