will
verb · noun
Simple meaning
shows that an action is going to happen in the future
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wilIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
auxiliary
Used to express the future tense, sometimes with an implication of volition or determination when used in the first person. Compare shall.
auxiliary
To choose or agree to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations, often in questions and negation.
auxiliary
To be able to, to have the capacity to.
transitive
To exert one's force of will (intention) in order to compel, or attempt to compel, something to happen or someone to do something.
Leave or give by will after one's death
transitiveintransitive
To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.
noun
One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.
The act of choosing to do something; a person's conscious intent or volition.
The capability of conscious choice and decision and intention
One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.
A fixed and persistent intent or purpose
“Where there's a will there's a way.”
Firmity of purpose, fixity of intent
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with an implication of volition or determination when used in the first person. Compare shall.
Used this way, will is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use will
- “Where there's a will there's a way.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior.
A pale light sometimes seen at night over marshy ground.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
In a willing manner.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.