Word Meanings - WILLFUL - Book Publishers vocabulary database

1. Of set purpose; self-determined; voluntary; as, willful murder. Foxe. In willful poverty chose to lead his life. Chaucer. Thou to me Art all things under heaven, all places thou, Who, for my willful crime, art banished hence. Milton. 2. Governed

Additional info about word: WILLFUL

1. Of set purpose; self-determined; voluntary; as, willful murder. Foxe. In willful poverty chose to lead his life. Chaucer. Thou to me Art all things under heaven, all places thou, Who, for my willful crime, art banished hence. Milton. 2. Governed by the will without yielding to reason; obstinate; perverse; inflexible; stubborn; refractory; as, a willful man or horse. -- Will"ful*ly, adv. -- Will"ful*ness, n.

Possible synonyms: (Same meaning words of WILLFUL)

• Wayward
• Willful
• froward
• perverse
• refractory
• disobedient
• obstinate
• stubborn

Related words: (words related to WILLFUL)

• OBSTINATE
  a thing with firmness, to persist in; ob + a word from the 1. Pertinaciously adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course; persistent; not yielding to reason, arguments, or other means; stubborn; pertinacious; -- usually implying unreasonableness.
• DISOBEDIENTLY
  In a disobedient manner.
• PERVERSENESS
  The quality or state of being perverse. "Virtue hath some perverseness." Donne.
• DISOBEDIENT
  1. Neglecting or refusing to obey; omitting to do what is commanded, or doing what is prohibited; refractory; not observant of duty or rules prescribed by authority; -- applied to persons and acts. This disobedient spirit in the colonies. Burke.
• FROWARD
  Not willing to yield or compIy with what is required or is reasonable; perverse; disobedient; peevish; as, a froward child. A froward man soweth strife. Prov. xvi. 28. A froward retention of custom is as turbulent a thing as innovation. Bacon. Syn.
• WAYWARD
  Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. My wife is in a wayward mood. Shak. Wayward beauty doth not fancy move. Fairfax. Wilt thou forgive the wayward thought Keble. -- Way"ward*ly, adv. -- Way"ward*ness, n.
• WILLFUL
  1. Of set purpose; self-determined; voluntary; as, willful murder. Foxe. In willful poverty chose to lead his life. Chaucer. Thou to me Art all things under heaven, all places thou, Who, for my willful crime, art banished hence. Milton. 2. Governed
• REFRACTORY
  1. Obstinate in disobedience; contumacious; stubborn; unmanageable; as, a refractory child; a refractory beast. Raging appetites that are Most disobedient and refractory. Shak. 2. Resisting ordinary treatment; difficult of fusion, reduction, or
• PERVERSED
  Turned aside.
• STUBBORN
  Firm as a stub or stump; stiff; unbending; unyielding; persistent; hence, unreasonably obstinate in will or opinion; not yielding to reason or persuasion; refractory; harsh; -- said of persons and things; as, stubborn wills; stubborn ore; a stubborn
• PERVERSEDLY
  Perversely.
• PERVERSELY
  In a perverse manner.
• PERVERSE
  p.p. of pervertereto turn around, to overturn: cf. F. pervers. See 1. Turned aside; hence, specifically, turned away from the right; willfully erring; wicked; perverted. The only righteous in a word perverse. Milton. 2. Obstinate in the wrong;
• AWAYWARD
  Turned away; away. Chaucer.
• ENFROWARD
  To make froward, perverse, or ungovernable. Sir E. Sandys.