willful

American  

[wil-fuhl] / ˈwɪl fəl /

Or wilful

adjective

1. deliberate, voluntary, or intentional.

   The coroner ruled the death willful murder.

   Synonyms:

   volitional;

2. unreasonably stubborn or headstrong; self-willed.

   Synonyms:

   adamant, obdurate, inflexible, pigheaded, refractory, contrary, intransigent

   Antonyms:

   tractable, obedient

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willful British  

/ ˈwɪlfʊl /

adjective

1. the US spelling of wilful

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Synonym Usage

Willful, headstrong, perverse, wayward refer to one who stubbornly insists upon doing as they please. Willful suggests a stubborn persistence in doing what one wishes, especially in opposition to those whose wishes or commands ought to be respected or obeyed: that willful child who disregarded his parents' advice. One who is headstrong is often foolishly, and sometimes violently, self-willed: reckless and headstrong youths. The perverse person is unreasonably or obstinately intractable or contrary, often with the express intention of being disagreeable: perverse out of sheer spite. Wayward in this sense has the connotation of rash wrongheadedness that gets one into trouble: a reform school for wayward teens.

Other Word Forms

• half-willfulness
  noun
• unwillfulness
  noun
• willfulness
  noun
• half-willful
  adjective
• unwillful
  adjective
• willfully
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of willful

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English; Old English wilful “willing”; see will ², -ful

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Explanation

Willful means "deliberate" or "stubborn." A child who exhibits willful disobedience knows she is doing something wrong (even if she tries to convince you otherwise). While being full of will, or determination, doesn’t necessarily seem like a bad thing, the word willful is negative in meaning. Use it when someone is behaving in a stubborn or uncooperative manner. To describe someone who possesses dedication or perseverance in a positive sense, consider determined, driven, or decisive — and that’s just the d's!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

willful

However, the review concluded that no university employee or representative had acted in bad faith or shown "willful and wanton disregard" for anyone's safety.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

But where Hwan’s Christianity is a willful, grotesque misreading of the Bible, Latif actively wrestles with his moral shortcomings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

But this is not, I believe, simply willful naivete, Erwin.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

Brainwashing isn’t enough: “To turn you into a willful collaborator, I need to also attack your emotional system. Empathy is an adaptive virtue. Suicidal empathy is the misfiring of this adaptive process.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

In the midst of this willful confusion, one Madisonian conviction shone through with his more characteristic clarity—namely, that slavery was an explosive topic that must be removed from the political agenda of the new nation.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

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Related Words

• conscious
• deliberate
• intentional
• premeditated
• purposeful
• willed

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