willy-nilly
/wɪliˈnɪli
/adverb
1Whether one likes it or not: he would be forced to collaborate willy-nilly...
- Caught up, willy-nilly, in lawlessness of a sort were also numberless worthy members of the public, who faced a stupefying barrage of emergency laws passed on sumptuary, economic and security grounds.
- Now, 11 years later, he was the Chief Commissioner of the hill State of Manipur, and had willy-nilly to depute election officers and to supervise the polling and the counting.
- But willy-nilly one must, come hail or thunderstorm.
Synonyms
whether one likes it or not, of necessity, necessarily;
one way or the other;
Latin nolens volens
informal like it or not, like it or lump it
formal perforce
2Without direction or planning; haphazardly: politicians expanded spending programmes willy-nilly...
- ‘Businesses are not free to spend their money willy-nilly,’ she said.
- There are some pieces of music that must be parceled out over a lifetime, and you don't want to spend their impact willy-nilly.
- It was made perfectly clear that money will not be tipped onto a table for the town to spend willy-nilly on pet projects.
Synonyms
haphazardly, at random, randomly, without planning, without method
Origin
Early 17th century: later spelling of will I, nill I 'I am willing, I am unwilling'.
This was originally will I, nill I, meaning ‘I am willing, I am unwilling’. It dates from the early 17th century. shilly-shally was formed in a similar way from ‘shill I, shall I?, where ‘shill’ is just a variation on ‘shall’.