willfully

American

[wil-fuh-lee] / ˈwɪl fə li /

Or wilfully

adverb

deliberately or intentionally; on purpose.

Any seller who knowingly or willfully certifies false statements is subject to fine and imprisonment.
in an unreasonably stubborn or headstrong way.

The student disrupted school activities and willfully defied the authority of teachers, administrators, and other school employees.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of willfully

First recorded before 1000; equivalent to willful ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

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.

To demand more seems to be willfully obtuse, more like a social media shame ritual than anything useful.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

But a source told the BBC: "To argue publicly that there was just one complaint is willfully misleading. They were presented to London in one dossier, but there were multiple complaints."

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026

Aggregators willfully take advantage of news avoidance, narrow attention spans and short fuses.

From Salon • Jan. 21, 2026

Lawyers for the group contend the city is willfully obfuscating to cover up its inadequate efforts to live up to its settlement.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026

It is possible that I was mistaken and I do not willfully invite any disillusions at this point in my life.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023