willingly

American  

[wil-ing-lee] / ˈwɪl ɪŋ li /

adverb

1. in a consenting and often cheerful way.

   They volunteer for duty on faraway battlefields, willingly putting their lives on the line to fight and possibly die for their country.

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Other Word Forms

• overwillingly
  adverb
• prewillingly
  adverb
• quasi-willingly
  adverb

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

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 do they submit themselves to the hand of their master, finding happiness in a cage, and singing his praises while he is with them, and weeping when he departs.

From The Legend of the Glorious Adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegel in the land of Flanders and elsewhere by Coster, Charles de

Related Words

• cheerfully
• freely
• readily
• voluntarily