willingly
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of willingly
First recorded before 900; equivalent to willing ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
If you do something willingly, you're perfectly happy to do it. Invite your friends to join you for hot fudge sundaes, your treat, and they'll willingly come along. When a person acts willingly, they are doing something of their own free will — in other words, they're glad to do it. Sometimes it's a no-brainer: you'll willingly jump in your aunt's waiting car when she offers to drive you home from school on a rainy day. At other times, doing something willingly is a marker of your good nature, like when you willingly step in to help your friend move.
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.
Willingly sitting in a dark movie theater so that horrifying surprises can mentally and emotionally terrorize me?
From Washington Post • Mar. 22, 2019
Willingly drowning in Belinda Becker’s soulful vibes at Joe’s Pub in the early 2000s.
From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2017
"Willingly living with a wild animal, but one with thumbs who can steal your money and hurt you emotionally."
From The Verge • Aug. 30, 2016
Willingly or otherwise, regular Saturday afternoon tourists were engulfed as the parade meandered to the shores of the Mississippi.
From The Guardian • Jan. 18, 2016
Willingly, but we shall not be alone there.
From Hania by Sienkiewicz, Henryk
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.
