willful

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Attorney David Lira, 65, Girardi’s son-in-law, pleaded guilty last year to a criminal contempt charge for his willful failure to abide by the settlement payment order.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

Jurors convicted Goldstein on 12 of the 16 counts against him, including tax evasion, willful failure to timely pay taxes and lying to mortgage lenders.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

It reasoned that the willful withholding of the mail goes far beyond “loss” and “miscarriage” and may therefore serve as grounds for a lawsuit.

From Slate • Feb. 24, 2026

After a certain point, a willful, proud ignorance masquerading as superior wisdom becomes a social menace and a stigma of poor citizenship.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2025

A few weeks before Greenhouse, Bradbury had tried to mollify the willful physicist by creating a semiautonomous thermonuclear division at Los Alamos, giving Teller authority over 25 scientists.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik