as in restraint
the power to control one's actions, impulses, or emotions
trying to summon the willpower to resist buying any more books before finishing the unread ones I already have
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Recent Examples of willpower
Your book is not only a guidepost for people considering taking GLP-1s or helping their family or friends who might be considering them, but also a message to break the stigma around obesity as something solely about willpower.
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Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 23 Dec. 2025
Public-facing materials and media narratives frequently frame weight as evidence of a lack of willpower to resist fatty and sugary foods — despite evidence to the contrary.
—Time, 19 Dec. 2025
Staying alert on the road Keeping alert requires more than willpower.
—Iona Brannon, Travel + Leisure, 19 Dec. 2025
Instead of willpower and drive, feelings of restlessness and nervousness might dominate.
—Hannah Madlener, Glamour, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for willpower
Recent Examples of Synonyms for willpower
Noun
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But restraint does not mean passivity.—
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The American Conservative was founded on foreign policy restraint, trade realism, and migration sanity in 2002.—
Noun
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Focusing on connection, basic needs, and follow-through helps build trust and teaches kids self-control over time.—
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Together, these findings indicate that obesity follows predictable social and economic patterns, rather than arising primarily from individual failures of self-control.—
Cite this Entry
“Willpower.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/willpower. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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