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

Elizabeth Stanziano reluctantly visited Norfolk, Virginia's Sail 250 festival after her mother raved for weeks about seeing the tall ships during the Bicentennial. — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 1 July 2026

Both works follow a family of birds whose homebody father reluctantly agrees to a road trip-esque migration. — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 29 June 2026

With memory supply scarce and pricey, consumer electronics companies have spent the past six months pulling various levers to manage the situation, from reconfiguring product SKUs in order to reduce the bill of materials to reluctantly hiking prices. — Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 28 June 2026

Manco only reluctantly starts carrying a gun after his first robbery, concerned that doing so would only lead to more violence. — Elena Lazic, Variety, 26 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined above