Willful — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Willful (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. given to resisting authority or another's control

   "a particularly willful horse that took weeks to break to saddle"

   similar: balky, contrary, contumacious, defiant, disobedient, froward, incompliant, insubordinate, intractable, obstreperous, rebel, rebellious, recalcitrant, recusant, refractory, restive, ungovernable, unruly, untoward, wayward
   related: noncooperative, uncooperative, insurgent, mutinous, adamant, adamantine, dogged, hardheaded, headstrong, immovable, implacable, inflexible, mulish, negativistic, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, peevish, pertinacious, pigheaded, rigid, self-willed, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, fractious, uncontrollable, unmanageable, wild, perverse, resistant, wrongheaded, bad, disorderly, errant, misbehaving, mischievous, monkeying, monkeyish, naughty, undisciplined, dissident, nonconformist, discourteous, disrespectful, ill-bred, ill-mannered, ill-natured, impertinent, impolite, impudent, inconsiderate, insolent, ornery, rude, uncivil, uncouth, ungracious, unmannerly
   opposite: amenable, biddable, compliant, conformable, docile, obedient, ruly, submissive, tractable
   near: acquiescent, agreeable, amiable, cooperative, deferential, obliging, yielding, behaved, disciplined, well-bred, courteous, polite, respectful, kowtowing, obsequious, servile, slavish, subservient, decorous, mannerly, orderly, proper, controllable, governable, manageable, trainable

2. given to resisting control or discipline by others

   "finally the parents sought professional counseling for the willful child"

   similar: froward, headstrong, incontrollable, intractable, recalcitrant, refractory, uncontrollable, ungovernable, unmanageable, unruly, untoward, wayward, out of hand
   related: bullheaded, contrary, difficult, hardheaded, incorrigible, intransigent, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, perverse, pigheaded, self-willed, stiff, stiff-necked, stubborn, undisciplined, unpunished, uncontrolled, wild, boisterous, irrepressible, rambunctious, rowdy, disobedient, indocile, insubordinate, rebellious, misbehaving, naughty
   opposite: controllable, governable, manageable, tractable
   near: docile, obedient, well-behaved, compliant, placable, pliable, submissive, yielding, accepting, persuadable, receptive, responsive, willing, reasonable, temperate, trainable

3. having or showing a tendency to force one's will on others without any regard to fairness or necessity

   "a willful disregard for the rights of others"

   similar: arbitrary, dictatorial, high-handed, imperious, peremptory
   related: arrogant, commanding, demanding, dominant, domineering, haughty, imperative, lordly, masterful, overbearing, presumptuous, authoritarian, autocratic, despotic, totalitarian, tyrannical, tyrannous, capricious, changeable, erratic, inconsistent, mercurial, whimsical, biased, inequitable, partisan, prejudiced, unequal, unfair, unjust, unrealistic, unreasonable, unconscionable, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous
   near: balanced, disinterested, dispassionate, equal, equitable, evenhanded, fair, impartial, just, nonpartisan, objective, rational, reasonable, understanding, unbiased, unprejudiced, ethical, honorable, irreproachable, law-abiding, moral, principled, unimpeachable

4. made, given, or done with full awareness of what one is doing

   "a willful attempt to cheat her siblings out of their rightful inheritance"

   similar: conscious, deliberate, intended, intentional, knowing, purposeful, purposive, set, voluntary, willed, witting
   related: designed, planned, advised, calculated, considered, measured, reasoned, studied, thoughtful, weighed, premeditated, premeditative, prepense, discretionary, elective, optional, volunteer
   opposite: nondeliberate, nonpurposive, unintentional
   near: inadvertent, unwitting, accidental, chance, haphazard, hit-or-miss, incidental, random, aimless, desultory, purposeless, abrupt, impetuous, sudden, coerced, forced, involuntary, compulsory, mandatory, necessary, nonelective, obligatory, ordered, required, casual, extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, spontaneous, unforced, unpremeditated

5. sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion

   "the kind of willful person who can never bring himself to admit that he made a mistake"

   similar: adamant, adamantine, bullheaded, dogged, hard, hard-nosed, hardened, hardheaded, headstrong, immovable, implacable, inconvincible, inflexible, intransigent, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, ossified, pat, pertinacious, perverse, pigheaded, self-opinionated, self-willed, stiff-necked, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, deaf to reason
   related: anal-retentive, obsessive, wayward, wrongheaded, determined, hell-bent, inexorable, persistent, relentless, resolved, set, single-minded, steadfast, stouthearted, tenacious, unflinching, firm, hard-line, hard-shell, iron, severe, stern, strict, hidebound, narrow-minded, rigid, bloody-minded (chiefly British), cantankerous, contrary, cussed, contumacious, disobedient, froward, insubordinate, intractable, recalcitrant, refractory, uncooperative, ungovernable, unmanageable, unruly, defiant, insurgent, mutinous, indomitable, invincible, unconquerable, confirmed, inveterate, unregenerate, demanding, exacting
   opposite: acquiescent, agreeable, amenable, compliant, complying, flexible, pliable, pliant, relenting, yielding
   near: docile, obedient, placable, submissive, tractable, accepting, persuadable, receptive, responsive, willing, governable, manageable, reasonable, temperate, slavish, subservient