1
: voluntary choice or decision
I do this of my own free will
2
: freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention
Synonyms
Examples of freewill in a Sentence
Adjective
a freewill confession of guilt made by the suspect during police interrogation
our office staff made a freewill offering for UNESCO
Noun
He argues that all humans have free will.
all of the workers at the homeless shelter are unpaid and are there of their own free will
Recent Examples on the Web
Dallas News, 30 Nov. 2022
All, too, will take place without a live audience and include links for freewill donations to nonprofits supporting Cleveland-area musicians and musical programs during coronavirus.
—Zachary Lewis, cleveland, 2 June 2020
Chris Klimek, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2024
If the main cause of our actions is not our molecules but the emergent mental states that encode memories, intentions, beliefs and so forth, isn’t that enough for a meaningful notion of free will?
—Philip Ball, WIRED, 21 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for freewill 
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Adjective
Coach for Men captures the never-resting energy of the city that never sleeps and the freewill spontaneity of all those who call it home.
—Dallas News, 30 Nov. 2022
All, too, will take place without a live audience and include links for freewill donations to nonprofits supporting Cleveland-area musicians and musical programs during coronavirus.
—Zachary Lewis, cleveland, 2 June 2020
Noun
That’s a smart way of dramatizing two massive, insoluble questions: whether artificial intelligence can possess free will and whether free will is itself an illusion.
—Chris Klimek, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2024
If the main cause of our actions is not our molecules but the emergent mental states that encode memories, intentions, beliefs and so forth, isn’t that enough for a meaningful notion of free will?
—Philip Ball, WIRED, 21 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for freewill
Dictionary Entries Near freewill
Cite this Entry
“Freewill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freewill. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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