willful Hear it!

willful Definition

will·ful (wil′fəl)

adjective

  1. said or done deliberately or intentionally
  2. doing as one pleases; self-willed

willful Related Forms
will′·fully adverb will′·ful·ness noun
willful Synonyms

willful

modif.

  1. Deliberate

    intentional, voluntary, premeditated, contemplated; see deliberate 1.

  2. Obstinate

    stubborn, wayward, intractable; see obstinate 1. See syn. study at voluntary.

willful Law Definition

adj

  1. In civil law, intentional, voluntary, knowing; distinguished from accidental, but not necessarily malicious.
  2. In criminal law, an act done stubbornly or with an evil intent.
willful Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • misconduct: For a pandemic, however, Republican leaders would allow suits only if there was willful misconduct.
  • ignorance: I think willful ignorance is a little closer to the mark.
  • blindness: What we must not do in the face of a mortal threat is to give in to wishful thinking or willful blindness.
  • disregard: The same photographs also reveal a willful disregard of the domination they desired.
  • killing: Willful killing is a grave breach ( war crime ) under the " grave breach " article in each of the four Geneva Conventions.
  • neglect: Lawyers OnLine does not exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by its own willful neglect or negligence.

Modifying Another Word

  • apparently: The limpidity of Chandler's style is a refreshing change from much of the apparently willful obfuscation which paradoxically prevails in communication studies.