willing
Syllables: will·ing/ˈwɪlɪŋ/
willing adjective: ready to do something, particularly something that requires change or effort; not objecting. Also the present participle and gerund of will.
Adjective
willing (comparative more willing, superlative most willing)
- Ready to do something, particularly something that requires change or effort; not objecting.
- If my boyfriend isn't willing to change his drinking habits, I will split up with him.
- In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete. The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness. The Celebrity as a matter of course was master of ceremonies.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- agreeable, agreeing, consenting, voluntary, up to, assenting, acquiescent, pleased, happy, obliging
Noun
willing (plural willings)
- The execution of a will.
Proper noun capitalized: Willing
Willing (plural Willings)
- A surname.
Also used as
willing is also the present participle and gerund of will.
willing meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Odia
willing in Hindi
- ready to do something that is not a matter of course
- इच्छुक icchuk, अभिलाषी abhilāṣī, तत्पर tatpar, रज़ामंद razāmand, रजामंद rajāmand
willing in Marathi
- इच्छुक
willing in Bengali
- ইচ্ছুক
willing in Odia
- ଇଚ୍ଛୁକ
More languagesFewer languages
- willing in Tagalog
- mayloob
Examples of willing in a sentence
- We pump the air down, but two-hour shifts are the most the men can do - and they are willing lads too."1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:
- Coal-eaters they may have been, but a more willing or harder working Atlantic engine was never designed.1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, pages 3, 5:
- The crater was rapidly filled in and the earth tamped solid, the wreckage was removed by breakdown trains, new rails and sleepers were rushed forward by willing hands, and US Army bulldozers piled in.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
Synonyms of willing
2 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of willing
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more willing |
| superlative | most willing |
| Noun | |
| plural | willings |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Willings |
Origin of willing
* (adjective): Old English willende, present participle of willan * (noun): Old English willung, from willian By surface analysis, will + -ing.
Words formed from willing
Phrases with willing
Words that rhyme with willing
- filling
- milling
- shilling
- billing
- quilling
- chilling
- killing
- take the shilling
- drilling
- fulfilling
- grilling
- spilling
10 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about willing
- What does willing mean?
- Willing means ready to do something, particularly something that requires change or effort; not objecting.
- What is willing in Hindi?
- Willing in Hindi is इच्छुक (icchuk), अभिलाषी (abhilāṣī), तत्पर (tatpar). See Willing meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use willing in a sentence?
- We pump the air down, but two-hour shifts are the most the men can do - and they are willing lads too."
- What part of speech is willing?
- Willing can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce willing?
- Willing is pronounced /ˈwɪlɪŋ/.
Words near willing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: willing (page history and authors); Willing (page history and authors); willing (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); willing (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); willing (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-willing.ogg.
Cite this entry: “willing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/willing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.