willfully

adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"willfully" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“willfully” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,660. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,660
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - US standard spelling of wilfully.

Corpus desk

Index EN-willfully · willfully · English

willfully · rank #26,660 · 10 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #26,660
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH voiceover

Nearest frequency peer: voiceover (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “willfully”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “willfully” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

willfully vs willful
78% similar
willfully vs wilfully
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for willfully
PropertyValue
Headwordwillfully
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters9
Frequency rank#26,660
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “willfully”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).willfullylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “voiceover” (#26,659), “worshipping” (#26,662), “Virgo” (#26,657). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “willfully” is #26,660. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around willfully, anadverb. Corpus frequency is #26,660 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "US standard spelling of wilfully.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for willfully, with forms such as "iwllfully", "wilflully", and "willffully". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "willful", "wilfully", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From willful + -ly. The correct English form is willfully, spelled W-I-L-L-F-U-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    US standard spelling of wilfully.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how willfully appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The information charges that the said Flem Parker, on or about the 20th day of November, 1890, and before the filing of this information, at the county and state aforesaid, did willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously enter a certain barn […]

Etymology

From willful + -ly.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iwllfully
  • wilflully
  • willffully
  • willfluly
  • willfullyy
  • willfuly
  • willfulyl
  • willuflly
  • wlilfully
  • wwillfully

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of willfully - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

iwllfully2wilflully2willffully1willfluly2willfullyy1willfuly1willfulyl2willuflly2
Edit distance from "willfully"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "willfully"?
"willfully" is spelled W-I-L-L-F-U-L-L-Y.
What does "willfully" mean?
As an adverb, "willfully" means: US standard spelling of wilfully.
What words are commonly confused with "willfully"?
"willfully" is commonly confused with "willful", "wilfully". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "willfully"?
From willful + -ly. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "willfully", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

voiceover#26,659ancillary#26,677trimester#26,637boomerang#26,701

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Villiers10 variantsVauxhall10 variantsalmanac10 variantsAntioch10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list