волей-неволей

• ВОЛЕЙ-НЕВОЛЕЙ{{}}

[AdvP; Invar; adv]

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⇒ regardless of whether desired or not:

- willy-nilly;

- like it or not;

- have no choice but to...

     ♦ Марлен Михайлович... знал, что звуки, исторгнутые "Видным лицом", волей-неволей нарушат общее молчание... (Аксёнов 7). Не [Marlen Mikhailovich] knew that the Important Personage, by producing the slightest sound, would willy-nilly break the others' silence... (7a).

     ♦ Волей-неволей ему [Кузьме] приходилось... постоянно думать об одном и том же: где достать деньги? (Распутин 1). Like it or not, he [Kuzma] was forced to think of only one thing: where could he get money? (1a).

     ♦ ...Она [Анисья] не управится одна, и Агафья Матвеевна, волей-неволей, сама работает на кухне... (Гончаров 1). She [Anisya] could not manage alone, and Agafya Matveyevna had no choice but to work in the kitchen herself... (1b).

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← Loan translation of the Latin volens nolens, which is also used in Russian both in its Latin form and in transliteration.