as in to refuse
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
she balked at lending him any more money
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balk (at)
Verb
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The film follows the young singer Seti, who refuses to accept the fact that women in Iran are not allowed to perform in public.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
25 June 2025 -
Ragusa alleged in her suit that the city discriminated against her, as well as other female and minority candidates, by refusing to interview them for the job back when it was first advertised.—
Mike Hendricks,
Kansas City Star,
25 June 2025
Verb
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In response, Congress passed legislation seeking to limit a president's ability to wage war against Iran, which was again quickly rejected by Trump.—
Mariam Khan,
ABC News,
23 June 2025
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This can manifest into an AI tool that ends up rejecting qualified job candidates because it was trained on biased data.—
Janice Gassam Asare,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
Verb
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Exports from Japan fall in May Japan exports in May declined 1.7% year over year, according to data from Japan's trade ministry released Wednesday.—
Yeo Boon Ping,
CNBC,
18 June 2025
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But the league declined to comment on any punishment for the official.—
Chris Vannini,
New York Times,
18 June 2025
Verb
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There were questions about whether Houston would be willing to part ways with its promising young core, but the chance to land a former MVP like Durant was simply too good to pass up.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 June 2025
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But act fast — Amazon’s outlet deals aren’t guaranteed to last, and these markdowns are too good to pass up.—
Clara McMahon,
People.com,
21 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Balk (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balk%20%28at%29. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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