Willy
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative form of willow. alt-of, alternative
- 2 A willow basket. UK, dialectal
- 3 the penis. Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, South-Africa, UK, childish, familiar, slang
"Little Johnny got his willy stuck in his zipper."
- 4 A person who is manipulated into serving as a useful agent without knowing it.
- 5 A fish basket. UK, dialectal
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- 6 Term of abuse. UK, childish
- 1 To cleanse wool or cotton, etc. with a willy, or willow.
- 1 Willing; favourable; ready; eager. obsolete
- 2 Self-willed; willful. Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 1 A diminutive of the unknown-gender given name William
Example
More examples"Reliever Julio Urías struck out Willy Adames to seal the victory for the Dodgers and send their players into a celebratory pile on the infield."
Etymology
From Middle English willy, willi, equivalent to will + -y. Cognate with Dutch willig (“obedient, hearsome”), German willig (“willing”), Swedish villig (“willing, agreeable”).
From Middle English wilȝe, from Old English wiliġ (“willow”). More at willow.
From Middle English wilie, from Old English wiliġe, wileġe (“basket”), from Proto-Germanic *wiligō (“wicker basket”), from Proto-Indo-European *weliko- (“willow-tree”). More at weel, willow.
Originally northern British usage, from the 1960s. Probably the simple use of a proper name as a pet name; compare dick, fanny and peter. Unlikely to be a contraction of Latin membrum virile, male member (that is, the penis), a Latin term used in English in the 19th century.
From Will + -y.
Related phrases
More for "willy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.