willingly

American  

[wil-ing-lee] / ˈwɪl ɪŋ li /

adverb

1. in a consenting and often cheerful way.

   They volunteer for duty on faraway battlefields, willingly putting their lives on the line to fight and possibly die for their country.

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Other Word Forms

• overwillingly adverb
• prewillingly adverb
• quasi-willingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of willingly

First recorded before 900; equivalent to willing ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

Explanation

If you do something willingly, you're perfectly happy to do it. Invite your friends to join you for hot fudge sundaes, your treat, and they'll willingly come along. When a person acts willingly, they are doing something of their own free will — in other words, they're glad to do it. Sometimes it's a no-brainer: you'll willingly jump in your aunt's waiting car when she offers to drive you home from school on a rainy day. At other times, doing something willingly is a marker of your good nature, like when you willingly step in to help your friend move.

Example Sentences

This case presented a strikingly simple question: Does it violate a journalist’s First Amendment rights if they are arrested for requesting and publishing information that a government employee willingly hands over?

From Slate • Mar. 26, 2026

It is a sacrifice she made willingly, but she is under no illusions - not every fighter is lucky enough to have a family to catch them when they fall.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

McElroy said the men spoke in code, with Grillo referring to the “production” and continually asking the witness what the plan was to convince Duarte to go willingly.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026

What’s more, whether they are pushed out or leave willingly, younger employees often go without a clear sense of what went wrong, so they’ll never get better.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026

If Minya had gotten Skathis’s power, she wondered, would she be any different from him, or would she willingly subjugate a whole population, and justify it all within the rigid parameters of justice.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• cheerfully
• freely
• readily
• voluntarily