Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use willful in a sentence

18 example sentences · adjective

Willful means american standard spelling of wilful. Example: “Norris was one of the willfullest of the notorious 12, and he opposed the arming of our ships, the declaration of war, the draft, the war revenue bill, etc.”

Examples of willful by meaning

adjectiveAmerican standard spelling of wilful.

  • Norris was one of the willfullest of the notorious 12, and he opposed the arming of our ships, the declaration of war, the draft, the war revenue bill, etc.1918 April 27, “[The Essence of Current Affairs: A Summary for Busy Readers, of the Significant Doings and Discussions of the Day] Must...
  • She was willfuller now than he.1920, Waldo Frank, chapter III, in The Dark Mother: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, page 43
  • Why is the wildest, willfullest daydream (which may be quite banal) no less than the most naive and flabby documentary welcomed, sometimes, with equal fervor?1967, Parker Tyler, “Is Film Criticism Only Propaganda?”, in Gregory Battcock, editor, The New American Cinema: A Critical Anthology, New...

More sentences with willful

  • But the issue goes beyond that, to a willful ignorance of history.2013 May 9, Norm Ornstein, “Obama's Hill Slump Has Nothing to Do With a Failure of Leadership”, in The Atlantic. From the entry schmooze
  • 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. From the entry wilful
  • In fact, culture is nothing but the willful acquisition of vulnerability.1982 May 31, Niccolo Tucci, “'THE WHOLE PROBLEM OF COURAGE NEEDS A REDIFINITION'; I was made livid with anger when I read in the newspaper…. From the entry subsociety
  • But that would require a willful misreading of a document that all but declares research has to affirm a left-wing perspective.2021 September 22, Jonathan Chait, “What Jonathan Franzen and the Left Get Wrong About Free Speech”, in Intelligencer, retrieved 07 Sep 2024. From the entry sanewash
  • I don’t mean that this is a willful suppression of some dark truth about ourselves—though it could be.2017, Joel Willitts, “Bent Sexuality and the Pastor”, in Gerald Hiestand, Todd Wilson, editors, Beauty, Order, and Mystery: A Christian…. From the entry self-unaware
  • ATN made this request on the basis of suppliers’ delays, and theft and willful destruction of property locally.1998, Gene O. Evelyn, “The Divestiture of the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation”, in Deryck R. Brown (editor), Evaluation, Learning…. From the entry rephasing
  • "He's as willful as you," Rizpah said.1995, Francine Rivers, As Sure as the Dawn, page 232. From the entry wilful
  • Then there was Ruby, who had been a wild child, willful, and determined to be everything her parents hated and feared.1992, Mercedes Lackey, The Lark and the Wren. From the entry wild child
  • It represented momentary, isolated, individual acts of willful evil.1987, Martin E. Marty, A Short History of Christianity, page 127. From the entry mistwist
  • The types of violations cited are serious general, non-serious general, willful, repeat, and failure to abate (FTA) violations.1982, Michigan. MIOSHA Information Division, Michigan. MIOSHA Information Section, MIOSHA Occupational Safety Activity Summary, Michigan…. From the entry FTA
  • The green eyes in the carefully sweet face were turbulent, willful, lusty with life, distinctly at variance with her decorous demeanor.1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter I, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published June 1944, →OCLC, part…. From the entry decorous
  • The question makes the obscurities and withdrawals and unappealingness of modern art seem willful — which is another fact of the experience of that art.1967, W. H. Capitan, D. D. Merrill, Art, Mind, and Religion. From the entry unappealingness
  • Like small children, monkeys can be willful creatures and will stomp around the room, protesting: “I know how to shave MYSELF!!” At this point, you must be firm.2006 November 25, John Boston, “Monkey See Monkey Do Monkey Bread …”, in The Santa Clarita Valley Signal, Santa Clarita, Calif., page A2…. From the entry monkeyspeak
  • A woman may become an agunah either through her husband's accidental disappearance or through his willful desertion, although accidental disappearance constitutes the main source of difficulty.1986, Menachem M. Brayer, The Jewish Woman in Rabbinic Literature, page 187. From the entry agunah
  • Panurge's comedy is the agony of indecision as he struggles obstinately and vainly to interpret every unfavorable omen in its countersense, to substitute his willful imagining for reality and fate.1968, Francis L. Lawrence, Moliere: The Comedy of Unreason, page 102. From the entry countersense

Meaning of willful

  1. adjective American standard spelling of wilful.

Full definition of willful

Questions about willful in a sentence

How do you use willful in a sentence?
Willful is used as an adjective. For example: “Norris was one of the willfullest of the notorious 12, and he opposed the arming of our ships, the declaration of war, the draft, the war revenue bill, etc.”
What is a short sentence with willful?
“She was willfuller now than he.”
What does willful mean?
Willful means american standard spelling of wilful.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: willful (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use willful in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/willful. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.