willingly

/ˈwɪlɪŋli/

//ˈwɪlɪŋli// adv

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

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

The verdict

“willingly” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,446. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,446
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of one’s own free will; freely and spontaneously.

Corpus desk

Index EN-willingly · willingly · English

willingly · rank #13,446 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #13,446
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH woah

Nearest frequency peer: woah (+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 “willingly”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “willingly” 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).

willingly vs willing
78% similar

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

Key facts for willingly
PropertyValue
Headwordwillingly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/ˈwɪlɪŋli/
Letters9
Frequency rank#13,446
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “willingly”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).willinglylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “woah” (#13,447), “UKIP” (#13,444), “wrapping” (#13,448). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “willingly” is #13,446. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around willingly (IPA /ˈwɪlɪŋli/), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #13,446 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Of one’s own free will; freely and spontaneously.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for willingly, with forms such as "iwllingly", "wililngly", and "wilingly". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "willing", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English willyngly, wyllyngly (“intentionally, deliverately; freely, gladly”), from Old English willendlīċe (“diligently”), equivalent to willing + -ly. The correct English form is willingly, spelled W-I-L-L-I-N-G-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of one’s own free will; freely and spontaneously.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Now this is a process of the mind or thought, of which I would willingly know the foundation.
  2. In the first place, although many people wanted nationalisation and it became the will of Parliament, there were many other people who did not want it, have never willingly accepted it, and never will.

Etymology

From Middle English willyngly, wyllyngly (“intentionally, deliverately; freely, gladly”), from Old English willendlīċe (“diligently”), equivalent to willing + -ly.

Synonyms

gladlyhappily

Antonyms

unwillingly

This word in other languages

gustosamente(Español)volontiers(Français)gern(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iwllingly
  • wililngly
  • wilingly
  • willignly
  • willinggly
  • willinglly
  • willinglyy
  • willingyl
  • willinlgy
  • willinngly
  • willnigly
  • wlilingly
  • wwillingly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of willingly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

iwllingly2wililngly2wilingly1willignly2willinggly1willinglly1willinglyy1willingyl2
Edit distance from "willingly"

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 "willingly"?
"willingly" is spelled W-I-L-L-I-N-G-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɪlɪŋli/.
What does "willingly" mean?
As an adverb, "willingly" means: Of one’s own free will; freely and spontaneously.
What words are commonly confused with "willingly"?
"willingly" is commonly confused with "willing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "willingly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "willingly" is /ˈwɪlɪŋli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "willingly"?
From Middle English willyngly, wyllyngly (“intentionally, deliverately; freely, gladly”), from Old English willendlīċe (“diligently”), equivalent to willing + -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 "willingly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

ambiguous#13,460staircase#13,429cartridge#13,477resisting#13,411

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

silently13 variantsColombian13 variantscrescent13 variantsdefective13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list