wilful

«wilful» in Mova's school dictionary: stubborn and determined to do what they want, even when… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (wilful — UK; willful — US); adverb wilfully; noun wilfulness

meaning for a pupil

1) A wilful person is stubborn and determined to do what they want, even when told not to. tree →

2) (formal, legal) A wilful action is done on purpose, deliberately, especially something bad: wilful damage. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories, a wilful child or princess refuses to obey; in legal and formal language, «wilful damage» or «wilful neglect» is harm done on purpose. Plain words: stubborn, headstrong; on purpose.

examples

• The wilful little goat would not come down from the wall. tree →
• She was a wilful child who always wanted her own way. tree →
• Breaking the window was wilful damage, not an accident. tree →
• He wilfully ignored the warning signs. tree →
• The wilful puppy pulled on its lead. tree →
• The judge said the harm was wilful. tree →

note

UK, Irish, Australian spelling: wilful (one l in the middle); US spelling: willful. From «will» (what you want) + «-ful». Similar: stubborn, obstinate. Opposite: obedient; for actions, accidental.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «wilful» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.