willy nilly

CIDE DICTIONARY

willy nilly,  

 Whether I (he, she, they) want to or not. See Will I, nill I, etc., under 3d Will.  [1913 Webster]

THESAURUS

willy nilly

all over, all over hell, at intervals, brokenly, by catches, by fits, by jerks, by skips, by snatches, come what may, compulsorily, disconnectedly, discontinuously, every which way, fitfully, from necessity, haphazardly, harum-scarum, helplessly, helter-skelter, here and there, higgledy-piggledy, hugger-mugger, in a jumble, in a mess, in a muddle, in confusion, in disarray, in disorder, in spots, inescapably, inevitably, infrequently, intermittently, necessarily, need, needfully, needs, nolens volens, occasionally, of necessity, per saltum, perforce, randomly, requisitely, skimble-skamble, skippingly, unavoidably, without choice

ROGET THESAURUS

willy nilly

Necessity

N necessity, involuntariness, instinct, blind impulse, inborn proclivity, innate proclivity, native tendency, natural tendency, natural impulse, predetermination, necessity, necessitation, obligation, compulsion, subjection, stern necessity, hard necessity, dire necessity, imperious necessity, inexorable necessity, iron necessity, adverse necessity, fate, what must be, destiny, destination, fatality, fate, kismet, doom, foredoom, election, predestination, preordination, foreordination, lot fortune, fatalism, inevitableness, spell, star, stars, planet, planets, astral influence, sky, Fates, Parcae, Sisters three, book of fate, God's will, will of Heaven, wheel of Fortune, Ides of March, Hobson's choice, last shift, last resort, dernier ressort, pis aller, necessaries, necessarian, necessitarian, fatalist, automaton, necessary, needful, fated, destined, elect, spellbound compulsory, uncontrollable, inevitable, unavoidable, irresistible, irrevocable, inexorable, avoidless, resistless, involuntary, instinctive, automatic, blind, mechanical, unconscious, unwitting, unthinking, unintentional, impulsive, necessarily, of necessity, of course, ex necessitate rei, needs must, perforce, nolens volens, will he nil he, willy nilly, bon gre mal gre, willing or unwilling, coute que coute, faute de mieux, by stress of, if need be, it cannot be helped, there is no help for, there is no helping it, it will be, it must be, it needs to be, it must be so, it will have its way, the die is cast, jacta est alea, che sara sara, it is written, one's days are numbered, one's fate is sealed, Fata obstant, diis aliter visum, actum me invito factus, non est meus actus, aujord'hui roi demain rien, quisque suos patimur manes, The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, Nor all thy piety nor wit shall draw it back to ca.