reluctantly

adverb

re·​luc·​tant·​ly ri-ˈlək-tənt-lē 

: in a reluctant manner : with aversion or hesitation

The quiet resolution in his voice penetrated her racing thoughts. Reluctantly she gave him a corner of her attention.

—Elizabeth George Speare

He is about to release 'Thriller,' and today he's agreed, reluctantly, to sit for the Rolling Stone cover.

—Gerri Hirshey

Kirsti had gone to bed reluctantly, complaining that she wanted to stay up with the others, that she was grownup enough, … that it wasn't fair.

—Lois Lowry

Examples of reluctantly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Since these minors enlisted without parental consent, local courts demanded that federal authorities produce them as unlawfully detained persons—and for years the military reluctantly obliged. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 25 May 2026

After reluctantly getting the group on board with Mother's wishes, Sam and the group devise a plan to get Mother out to the cave — despite Blaine having blocked off all of the exits from The Boroughs. —Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 23 May 2026

These are not concessions to fairness that growth must reluctantly absorb. —Nick Hanauer, The Atlantic, 22 May 2026

Trump blustered and lied and displayed himself in the worst possible light, of course, but Reza Pahlavi, the Shah’s son who lives in the United States and who many Iranians had reluctantly come to regard as a possible leader, also played his hand extremely badly. —Daniel Drake, The New York Review of Books, 16 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined above