unwilling
Americanadjective
-
not willing; reluctant; loath; averse.
an unwilling partner in the crime.
-
opposed; offering resistance; stubborn or obstinate; refractory.
an unwilling captive.
adjective
-
unfavourably inclined; reluctant
-
performed, given, or said with reluctance
Other Word Forms
- unwillingly adverb
- unwillingness noun
Etymology
Origin of unwilling
before 900; Old English unwillende (not recorded in ME); un- 1, willing
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.
Approximately 800 ships are believed to have been stuck in the Gulf, many transporting oil and gas, and have been unable and unwilling to exit onto the open seas.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
Chinese households were mostly unwilling to pay for AI services until the emergence of OpenClaw, she says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
But they have proved unwilling while the conflict rages.
From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026
Mudavadi also negotiated a deal that allowed Kenyans currently on the front line and "unwilling to continue in the assignment disengaged and freed to travel back home", the foreign ministry said.
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026
He did not care to do so, for the same reason that had made Proteus unwilling: Zeus’s well-known hostility to those who broke the bond between host and guest.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
