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.
She says "there's always something that pops up" that means she cannot get into the black, particularly around her young son's extra needs, which she willingly puts first.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
I assume he will not go willingly, given that he feels like he has a right to live there and has nowhere else to go.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
The large potential benefits to society of AI Washington might willingly throw away to avoid such risks to itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
But if past is prologue, the courts won’t willingly implement reform.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
The Bracegirdler down Leather Lane willingly gave Robin enough leather to cover the crosspieces of the crutches and hair to stuff it.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
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.
