Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ill-willing

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.42 in modern English

Syllables: il-l-will-ing
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Having or displaying malevolence or ill-will.

Example Sentences

"I don't know how— but it will make me uneasy, if I am to make up my accounts to you: for so well known is your love to us, that though you would no more do in unjust thing, than, by God's grace, we should desire you; yet this same ill-willing world might think it was like making up accounts to one's self."
"Some quaint device or rare conceit of her nigh frozen Robin Redbreast; praying to be once more cherished from the cold blasts of an ill-willing world, in the warm bosom of Royal favour."
"But then neither, obviously, is the simple antithesis of an ill-willing delinquency sufficient, for the machinery that thrives on the good will of individuals easily privatises that into a set of individual aberrations—[…]"
"As has been illustrated by numerous scientific articles over the last 30 years, there is almost always a possibility for an ill-willing intruder to re-identify (part of) anonymised microdata, […]"
"Should a person be suffering from the ill-willing attention of one of the fairy people a Fairy Doctor must be found."

Etymology

From Middle English *il-willynge, ill willand, il-willande, equivalent to ill + willing.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *il-willynge

Inflected Forms

more ill-willing (comparative) most ill-willing (superlative) ill willing (alternative)

Questions

What does ill-willing mean?: Having or displaying malevolence or ill-will.
Where does ill-willing come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce ill-willing

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ill-willing”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ill-willing”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ill-willing” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.