unwillingly
adverb
unwillingly is spelled U-N-W-I-L-L-I-N-G-L-Y: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, unwillingly means “In an unwilling or uncooperative manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unwillingly?
| Letters | 11: U-N-W-I-L-L-I-N-G-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is unwillingly?
Unwillingly appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce unwillingly?
Unwillingly has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of unwillingly
- more unwillingly comparative
- most unwillingly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unwillingly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In an unwilling or uncooperative manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unwillingly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in an unwilling manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | involontairement |
| German | widerwillig, unwillig |
| Portuguese | com relutância, a contragosto, sem vontade, de má vontade, com má vontade |
| Spanish | de mala gana, a cara de perro, a regañadientes, disgustosamente, malamente, de mala voluntad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does unwillingly come from?
From unwilling + -ly or un- + willingly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).