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View synonyms for unwilling

unwilling

[ uhn-wil-ing ]

adjective

  1. not willing; reluctant; loath; averse:

    an unwilling partner in the crime.

  2. opposed; offering resistance; stubborn or obstinate; refractory:

    an unwilling captive.



unwilling

/ ʌnˈwɪlɪŋ /

adjective

  1. unfavourably inclined; reluctant
  2. performed, given, or said with reluctance
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • unˈwillingly, adverb
  • unˈwillingness, noun
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Other Words From

  • un·willing·ly adverb
  • un·willing·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of unwilling1

before 900; Old English unwillende (not recorded in ME); un- 1, willing
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Example Sentences

Conventional wisdom in Washington centered on Schottenheimer being unwilling to yield any power after being given total control as coach and director of football operations when he was hired.

Early in his career, Watson was trying to establish himself and unwilling to call out the man who made him a millionaire.

They are trying to determine whether it truly is more transmissible or has simply exploited lax behavior in a region where many people are either unable or unwilling to take precautions against the virus.

Public school leaders have demanded access to vaccines for employees in negotiations over school reopenings, but thus far they’ve been unwilling to broach the subject of mandating vaccinations.

All of this helps make up for the fact that he is often unable or unwilling to shoot from beyond the arc.

Those opposing same-sex marriage are on their heels, and increasingly unwilling or unable to make a stand against it.

A few years ago, Crowder stopped making the screws because Spinal Solutions was unwilling to pay a fair price, he said.

The Obama administration has pulled together a coalition as ineffectual as it is unwilling.

In general, Isfahan authorities have been unwilling to speak on the matter.

Many are unwilling to admit that bigotry has entered the mainstream.

As if unwilling to trust himself longer in dangerous companionship, he went up to town with Thomas Carr.

Each sentence came as if torn piecemeal from his unwilling tongue; short, jerky phrases, conceived in pain and delivered in agony.

I never had to fight again except as an unwilling participant in our foreign warfare.

It is probable he wished to provide written proof of a plea that he was an unwilling agent in the clutch of a mutinous army.

Sir,—I was unwilling to write you until I had made a little trial of the Herland engine.

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