How to Use willful in a Sentence

willful

adjective
  • He has shown a willful disregard for other people's feelings.
  • Most of the non-willful fines were in the hundreds of dollars.
    — oregonlive, 20 Apr. 2022
  • Her Ma comes across as brash, crass, willful and nasty in all the best ways.
    — Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 14 Dec. 2020
  • At the top of this list might well be his willful destruction of the Russian Army.
    — Michael Krepon, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2022
  • That was the first act of Tulsa’s willful forgetting: to bury the truth of what had happened.
    — Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Mar. 2021
  • This season focuses on the willful delusion of the wealthy.
    — Lauren Jackson, New York Times, 11 Dec. 2022
  • He was arrested and charged with torture and willful abuse of a child.
    — Carol Robinson | [email protected], al, 14 May 2020
  • Her mother, 70, was booked on three counts of torture and three counts of willful cruelty to a child.
    — Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY, 10 Nov. 2022
  • The greed and willful blindness must be laid at the feet of his investors and financial partners.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2021
  • In effect, the public was dragged from willful ignorance by the truth.
    — The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2021
  • Mayorkas, 64, faced two charges from the House: willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust.
    — Kyler Alvord, Peoplemag, 7 Feb. 2024
  • Adella Tom was booked on three counts each of torture and willful cruelty to a child.
    — Gina Martinez, CBS News, 10 Nov. 2022
  • And so there's a willful destructiveness as much as there is a very strong creative urge in her.
    — Jessica Wang, EW.com, 10 Jan. 2023
  • Mayorkas, 64, now faces two charges from the House: willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust.
    — Kyler Alvord, Peoplemag, 14 Feb. 2024
  • If the violation can be proved to be knowing or willful the amount is tripled.
    — Peter J Reilly, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Having said all that, the case against Trump for willful failure to disclose is still not a complete slam-dunk.
    — Sean Illing, Vox, 3 May 2018
  • One was unruly, willful and disobedient, and the other was calm and easy to be around.
    — Haben Kelati, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Both are charged with murder and willful harming of a child, according to jail records.
    — Fox News, 12 Nov. 2021
  • The movie gives no real sense of what made L3 so willful and independent.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 27 May 2018
  • But the willful swirl and the withholding of coherence are too extreme here.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 2 June 2021
  • Leda observes Nina on the beach with her young daughter, who seems willful and moody.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 5 Sep. 2021
  • Gotthard gave Elizabeth the task of controlling the spoiled, willful, and lazy child.
    — Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2025
  • Where there is a will there is a way, but on some occasions being too willful can cause problems.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 20 Aug. 2020
  • That, along with the willful ignorance of looking a fact square in the face and proclaiming it false, is a tremendous danger.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, 28 June 2018
  • Elijah Cade, 19, has been charged with willful fleeing.
    — Cliff Pinckard, cleveland, 8 Jan. 2020
  • So be aware that the concept of willful endangerment could put you over that limit.
    — Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 3 June 2024
  • So this willful denial of what movies actually are has set in.
    — Zack Sharf, Variety, 17 July 2023
  • The man was charged with speeding and willful and wanton disregard for safety.
    — cleveland, 25 June 2020
  • Blindness or willful ignorance of the future is an extremely risky path to pursue.
    — Patrick Casey, Debra Fiser, Whit Hall and Gary Wheeler Special To The Democrat-Gazette, arkansasonline.com, 9 Feb. 2025
  • In short, a willful, erratic and heedless president is prepared to risk both the U.S. and global economy to make his ideological point.
    — Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'willful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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