self-will

American  

[self-wil, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈwɪl, ˈsɛlf- /

noun

1. stubborn or obstinate willfulness, as in pursuing one's own wishes, aims, etc.

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self-will British  

noun

1. stubborn adherence to one's own will, desires, etc, esp at the expense of others

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Other Word Forms

• self-willedness
  noun
• self-willed
  adjective
• self-willedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of self-will

before 900; Middle English: one's own will, stubbornness; Old English: one's own will; see self, will ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

self-will

“My self-will had to be abandoned because my self-will was killing me,” Irsay said.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2022

It also evokes the determination, the self-will, of countless immigrants who have chosen to make and call America their home.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2021

Thus, as Cooley’s film quickens and deepens, we get a fabulous running joke about the “inner voice,” a staple of American self-will since the days of Emerson.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 21, 2019

At one point in the first novel, Outline, she remarks, “I had come to believe more and more in the virtues of passivity, and of living a life as unmarked by self-will as possible.”

From Slate ● May 25, 2018

We are the creatures of imagination, passion, and self-will, more than of reason or self-interest.

From Winterslow Essays and Characters Written There by Hazlitt, William