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willy

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willy¹

  • /ˈwɪli/

Rhymes with -ɪli

Where it comes from

From Middle English willy, willi, equivalent to will + -y. Cognate with Dutch willig (“obedient, hearsome”), German willig (“willing”), Swedish villig (“willing, agreeable”).

adjective willier · more willy · williest · most willy

  1. obsolete Willing; favourable; ready; eager.
  2. Scotland, UK, dialectal Self-willed; willful.

willy²

  • /ˈwɪli/

Rhymes with -ɪli

Where it comes from

From Middle English wilȝe, from Old English wiliġ (“willow”). More at willow.

noun willies

  1. alternative Alternative form of willow

verb willies · willying · willied

  1. To cleanse wool or cotton, etc. with a willy, or willow.

willy³

  • /ˈwɪli/

Rhymes with -ɪli

Where it comes from

From Middle English wilie, from Old English wiliġe (“wicker basket”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiligijā, from Proto-Indo-European *weliko- (“willow-tree”). More at weel, willow.

noun willies

  1. UK, dialectal A willow basket.
  2. UK, dialectal A fish basket.

willy⁴

  • /ˈwɪli/

Rhymes with -ɪli

Where it comes from

Originally northern British usage, from the 1960s. Probably the simple use of a proper name as a pet name; compare dick, fanny and peter. Unlikely to be a contraction of Latin membrum virile, male member (that is, the penis), a Latin term used in English in the 19th century.

noun willies · willie

  1. Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, childish The penis. Little Johnny got his willy stuck in his zipper.

    Similar: peter

  2. UK, childish, dialectal A term of abuse. You're a big fat willy! So shut up!!

Similar: johnson, wee-wee

willy⁵

  • /ˈwɪli/

Rhymes with -ɪli

Where it comes from

Perhaps a shortening of willy-nilly, an old way of saying “whether one wants to or not”, here referring to the person being used as an agent without their knowledge, i.e. regardless of their will.

noun willies · willie

  1. UK, dialectal A person who is manipulated into serving as a useful agent without knowing it.

Willy⁶

  • /ˈwɪli/

Rhymes with -ɪli

proper noun Willys · Willies · Willie

  1. A diminutive of the male given name William

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: wille, willies, pee-pee, willie, hey, dickey, weenie, pecker, pick, sport, penis, wiener, wagtail, nicky, dicky, wylie

noun

Similar: johnson, wee-wee

Translations

Every language

noun The penis

Españolpilila, pito
한국어고추 gochu
日本語おちんちん ochinchin, ちんちん chinchin
中文弟弟 dìdi
Portuguêspirilau, pipi, bingola
Françaiszizi, quéquette
DeutschPimmel, Schniedel, Pullermann
Italianopisello, pisellino, pipino
Ελληνικάπουλί poulí
Românăpasăre
Русскийписю́н pisjún, писю́нчик pisjúnčik
עבריתבולבול bulbul

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MLA

"willy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/willy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

willy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/willy

Chicago

"willy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/willy.

BibTeX
@misc{willy_2026,
  title = {willy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/willy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}