wilful
adj/ˈwɪlfʊl/ · /ˈwɪlfəl/
Etymology From Middle English wilful; equivalent to will + -ful.
1
UK Intentional; deliberate.
- Knowingly or unknowingly, every therapist assumes that each client possesses the capacity to change through willful choice.2005, Irvin D. Yalom with Molyn Leszcz, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, page 182:
2
UK Stubborn and determined.
- Mary had taken the whim into her willful head, and Jane could not dissuade her.1893, Edwin Caskoden, When Knighthood Was in Flower, page 110:
- Let you not be taking it bad, Conchubor, but you’ll get little good seeing her this night, for with all my talking it’s wilfuler she’s growing these two months or three.1909, John M[illington] Synge, “Act I”, in Deirdre of the Sorrows: A Play, Churchtown: Cuala Press, published 1910, page 5:
3 more examples
- He was a youth to the end of his days, the heart of a boy with the head of a sage; the heart of a good boy, or a bad boy, but always a wilful boy, and wilfulest to show himself out at every time for just the boy he was.1910, W[illiam] D[ean] Howells, chapter I, in My Mark Twain: Reminiscences and Criticisms, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, part first (Memories), page 5:
- "He's as willful as you," Rizpah said. "If you let him hurt himself again, so help me, I'll — "1995, Francine Rivers, As Sure as the Dawn, page 232:
- You had a pampered upbringing, and possessed enough of a willful streak that I wanted to slap you at times2007, Roger K. Thomas, Kinshu: Autumn Brocade, translation of original by Teru Miyamoto, page 136:
- Derived terms
- unwilful, unwillful, wilful blindness, willful blindness, wilful homicide, wilful ignorance, willful ignorance, wilfully, willfully, wilfulness, willfulness