willy-nilly, adv. and a.
(ˈwɪlɪ ˈnɪlɪ)
Also 7 wille nille, 8 willi nilhi.
[= will I, nill I (he, ye) ‘be I (he, ye) willing, be I (he, ye) unwilling’: see will v.1 VI, nill v.]
A. adv. Whether it be with or against the will of the person or persons concerned; whether one likes it or not; willingly or unwillingly, nolens volens.
| 1608 Middleton Trick to catch Old One i. ii, Thou shalt trust me spite of thy teeth, furnish me with some money wille nille. 1797 Mrs. Berkeley Poems of G. M. Berkeley Pref. p. ccxxix, But her Ladyship would, willi nilhi, constantly join the one who drank the waters every morning, and converse with her. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. ix. (1824) 145 He was sure, willy nilly, to be drenched with a deluge of decoctions. 1818 J. Brown Psyche 121 From whence it follows, will y' nill y', The thought of your's is mighty silly. 1884 A. Griffiths Chron. Newgate II. vii. 306 He..conceived an idea of carrying her off and marrying her willy nilly at Gretna Green. 1898 L. Stephen Stud. Biogr. II. vii. 272 You are engaged in the game willy-nilly, and cannot be a mere looker-on. |
B. adj.
1. That is such, or that takes place, whether one will or no.
| 1877 Tennyson Harold v. i, And someone saw thy willy-nilly nun Vying a tress against our golden fern. 1880 Cornhill Mag. Feb. 182 All willy-nilly spinsters went to the canine race to be consoled. 1882 Tennyson Promise of May ii. 119 If man be only A willy-nilly current of sensations. |
¶ 2. erron. Undecided, shilly-shally.
| 1883 Galton Hum. Faculty 57 The willy-nilly disposition of the female in matters of love is as apparent in the butterfly as in the man. 1898 Besant Orange Girl ii. vi, Let us have no more shilly shally, willy nilly talk. |