willy-nilly
Americanadverb
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in a disorganized or unplanned manner; sloppily.
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whether one wishes to or not; willingly or unwillingly.
He'll have to do it willy-nilly.
adjective
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shilly-shallying; vacillating.
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disorganized, unplanned; sloppy.
willy-nilly work.
adverb
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whether desired or not
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haphazardly
adjective
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occurring or taking place whether desired or not
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occurring haphazardly
Etymology
Origin of willy-nilly
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.
Little lopsided houses were scattered willy-nilly, and the only big building was the mill, which stood on the edge of a forest.
From Literature
The reasons for this jobs stagnation aren’t clear, though one culprit might be the uncertainty created by up-down, willy-nilly tariff policy.
You can’t blame him, when his supply chain would be vulnerable to willy-nilly tariffs.
Gran sent Viola home to Wales, and the rest of my friends are scattered willy-nilly.
From Literature
Are top-drawer college football teams and their name, image and likeness collectives simply trying to protect themselves from willy-nilly transfers or are they bullying players to stay put with threats of lawsuits?
From Los Angeles Times
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.
