balked

verb

past tense of balk
as in frustrated
to prevent from achieving a goal a young man with big dreams who refused to be balked by the many challenges he faced in making them a reality

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of balked Things reached a boiling point in 2008, when NATAS tried to launch its own Broadband Emmys, and the TV Academy balked. — Michael Schneider, Variety, 27 July 2026 Nicholas said that fans often would point out to him that Henry balked in the final sequence of the movie. — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026 Alex Jackson scored from third after reliever Luis Morales balked with the bases loaded, and Jeffers followed with a two-run single that made it 6-0 in the second. — ABC News, 26 July 2026 The Brewers were one team that balked at the Nationals’ high asking price on Abrams over the winter. — Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 25 July 2026 Other abolitionists balked at this celebration of Washington’s antislavery credentials. — John Garrison Marks, The Atlantic, 25 July 2026 Most governments have so far balked at putting in place mandatory rules about what safeguards companies developing advanced AI systems need to build into their models or have in place internally to guard against losing control of AI agents. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 22 July 2026 Federal prosecutors at first balked at the extension request. — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 18 July 2026 Joy Behar balked at Alyssa Farah Griffin referencing her age during a discussion about Mitch McConnell’s health. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 8 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balked
  1. frustrated
  2. baffled
  3. hampered
  4. thwarted
Verb
  • Between the steady march of average US gasoline prices back above $4 per gallon and the rapid rise of power prices, American consumers have plenty to be frustrated by in their energy bills.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 21 July 2026
  • Early in her career, frustrated that internships at a film studio kept going to the children of executives and family friends, she was eventually handed eighteen months to fix the company’s hiring.
    — Nell Derick Debevoise Dewey, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of frustrated
Verb
  • The closure of the Dome and ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood has been painful for both locals and industry creatives, leaving countless baffled that powerbrokers in town have not found a way to open the doors again.
    — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 21 July 2026
  • Grantham said he was baffled by Wall Street banks’ recommendations to buy SpaceX for their clients.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 8 July 2026
Definition of baffled
Verb
  • But even use of that system is being hampered because state officials haven’t been trained in how to enter cyclosporiasis cases yet.
    — Blake Ellis, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
  • The search was hampered by the fact that Horan’s gravestone, like many at Blake Street, had eroded to the point that it could no longer be identified.
    — John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 20 July 2026
Definition of hampered
Verb
  • Though agents responded as they were trained and quickly thwarted the gunman’s plot, some guests who had stepped out of the ballroom to use the bathroom — including CNN’s Wolf Blitzer — found themselves in the midst of the gunfire.
    — Kyler Alvord, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026
  • Throughout Homer’s tale, Odysseus is repeatedly thwarted by divine wrath, nature and human fallibility.
    — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 23 July 2026
Definition of thwarted

Browse Nearby Words

balk (at)
balked
balked (at)
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Cite this Entry

“Balked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balked. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of balked for Spanish Speakers

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