Wilfully

adv

adv ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Willingly, of one's own free will. obsolete

    "[…]wilfully and comptly commit[…]"

  2. 2
    Deliberately, on purpose.
Adverb
  1. 1
    in a willful manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
advisedlydeliberatelydesignedlyintentionallyon purposepurposefully

Example

More examples

"My regret is that, in a world where one so often hungers in vain for friendship, where even not to be wilfully misunderstood is felt as a kindness, I shall never meet in person these appreciative readers, male and female, and shake them by the hand."

Etymology

From Old English wilfullīċe, corresponding to wilful + -ly.

Related phrases

on purpose

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.