| 释义 |
willy-nilly
wil·ly-nil·ly W0163800 (wĭl′ē-nĭl′ē) adv. 1. Whether desired or not: After her boss fell sick, she willy-nilly found herself directing the project. 2. Without order or plan; haphazardly: "We laid our sleeping bags out willy-nilly, as if having fallen from the stars" (Rick Bass). adj. 1. Being or occurring whether desired or not: willy-nilly cooperation. 2. Disordered; haphazard: willy-nilly zoning laws.
[Alteration of will ye (or he or I), nill ye (or he or I), be you (or he or I) willing, be you (or he or I) unwilling.] willy-nilly (ˌwɪlɪˈnɪlɪ) adv1. whether desired or not2. haphazardlyadj3. occurring or taking place whether desired or not4. occurring haphazardly[Old English wile hē, nyle hē, literally: will he or will he not; nyle, from ne not + willan to will1]wil•ly-nil•ly (ˈwɪl iˈnɪl i)
adv. 1. whether one wishes to or not; willingly or unwillingly. 2. in a disorganized or unplanned manner; sloppily. adj. 3. shilly-shallying; vacillating. 4. disorganized; unplanned; sloppy. [1600–10; from the phrase will ye, nill ye. See will1, nill] Thesaurus| Adv. | 1. |  willy-nilly - in a random manner; "the houses were randomly scattered"; "bullets were fired into the crowd at random"arbitrarily, at random, every which way, haphazardly, indiscriminately, randomly | | 2. | willy-nilly - without having a choice |
willy-nillyadverb1. whether you like it or not, necessarily, of necessity, perforce, whether or no, whether desired or not, nolens volens (Latin) We were dragged willy-nilly into the argument.2. haphazardly, at random, randomly, without order, without method, without planning, any old how (informal) The papers were just bundled into the drawers willy-nilly.willy-nillyadverbWithout regard to desire or inclination:helplessly, involuntarily, perforce.Translationswilly-nilly
willy-nilly1. Lacking or without thought, order, or reason; haphazard(ly). You can't just choose a college willy-nilly—you have to do some research. It appears he listed the items willy-nilly, with no regard to how they were loaded.2. Regardless of whether or not it is desired. I'm afraid you're going to be assigned to a classroom willy-nilly.do something ˌwilly-ˈnilly (informal)
1 do something whether you want to or not: She was forced willy-nilly to accept the company’s proposals.
2 do something in a careless way without planning: Don’t just use your credit card willy-nilly.This expression is a shortened form of ‘willing or not willing’.See also: somethingwilly-nilly, to do somethingWillingly or not; anyhow, any old way. This very old term was once will-he, nill-he, nill being the negative of will (i.e., will not or won’t). It was in print by the late thirteenth century and was picked up by numerous writers, including Shakespeare (in Hamlet). Today it is sometimes used in the original sense—that is, this will happen, whether or not one wants it to—and also (erroneously according to the OED but not American dictionaries), in the meaning of sloppily or in disorganized fashion.See also: somethingEncyclopediaSeearbitrarywilly-nilly
Related to willy-nilly: pithy, haphazardly, succinctlySynonyms for willy-nillyadv whether you like it or notSynonyms- whether you like it or not
- necessarily
- of necessity
- perforce
- whether or no
- whether desired or not
- nolens volens
adv haphazardlySynonyms- haphazardly
- at random
- randomly
- without order
- without method
- without planning
- any old how
Synonyms for willy-nillyadv without regard to desire or inclinationSynonyms- helplessly
- involuntarily
- perforce
Synonyms for willy-nillyadv in a random mannerSynonyms- arbitrarily
- at random
- every which way
- haphazardly
- indiscriminately
- randomly
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