VOLUNTARILY Synonyms: 19 Similar and Opposite Words

voluntarily

adverb

Definition of voluntarily

as in willingly

of one's own free will you took part in this voluntarily, so you have no cause to complain

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of voluntarily Trump’s yearly average of removing 380,000 migrants forcibly, rather than voluntarily, is lower than Barack Obama’s average of 392,000 annually in his first term. — Alec Dent, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2026 Japanese websites were also voluntarily offline, including systems for daycare centers and video games, the Japanese tech news site ITmedia reported. — Kevin Collier, NBC news, 21 Oct. 2026 Mail shipments that are not properly entered within 15 days would be treated as voluntarily abandoned under the proposal, after which the Postal Service could destroy the merchandise or return it to the sender. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 21 Oct. 2026 While some states voluntarily handed over the information, the department sued 30 states and the District of Columbia to obtain it -- lawsuits that so far have been unsuccessful. — Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026 Defense attorney Shlomi Presser argued for a lower amount Saint Cyr's family could afford, noting that his client voluntarily surrendered as promised on the 19th after charges were filed. — Ted Scouten, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026 Without modern economic incentives, asking businesses and farms to voluntarily cut back simply isn’t realistic. — Silvia Console Battilana, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026 In the years since that 2014 study, consumer concerns led many companies to voluntarily remove parabens from their products. — Tracy Middleton, Allure, 19 Oct. 2026 Research suggests that most often both parties use mind-altering substances voluntarily, although the effects of these substances can alter a person’s ability to grant consent. — Christopher P. Holstege, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for voluntarily

Adverb

Carney remembered Goulding as someone who willingly took on difficult challenges, and Wong as someone his family could always depend on.

— Rob Gillies, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
The film’s central question, as Coon sees it, is why someone might willingly abandon a conventional life for an alternative community.

— Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of willingly

Adverb

Every team’s games will stream locally, with many franchises also airing contests on freely available over-the-air broadcast stations.

— Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 23 Oct. 2026
The business terms, which were originally supposed to go into effect on October 30th, appeared to give Meta permission to freely scrape the new sites that use its platforms, while using the material for AI training.

— Emma Roth, The Verge, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of freely

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voluminousness

voluntarily

voluntary

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“Voluntarily.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/voluntarily. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of voluntarily

adverb

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