BALKED Synonyms: 60 Similar and Opposite Words

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

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Recent Examples of balked Russia’s presence at G20 gathering roils European allies Concerns about any prospects for the talks escalated when the Europeans balked at being photographed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. — Matthew Lee, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026 Still, Goldberg balked at the thought of breastfeeding a dog. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2026 When the department asked for up to six months to write a new rule, Sherriff balked. — Molly A. Wallace, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2026 Leaders, including House Speaker Jon Burns, balked at the idea of giving Democrats such a tasty campaign issue. — AJC.com, 28 Oct. 2026 The 2019 General Assembly wouldn’t support Lamont’s tolling plan, and one year later lawmakers also balked at a more limited plan to toll only large commercial trucks. — Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 27 Oct. 2026 Plus, it's previously balked at the marketing costs that come with bringing films to the cinema, which can total hundreds of millions of dollars per film. — Sarah Whitten, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026 Some boards of directors may have balked at sending their CEOs into Saudi Arabia in the midst of the deadly battle with the Houthis. — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 19 Oct. 2026 Some investors balked at its lack of a track record, while others were unnerved by Volta’s reliance on Anthropic to buy much of the data center’s compute. — Ellen Dimauro, semafor.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for balked

Verb

Lara faced intense scrutiny and criticism during his eight years in office from Californians frustrated by rising prices, fewer options and how their claims were handled.

— Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026
In Broward County, voters who lined up to be the first to cast ballots were frustrated by a technical issue that delayed voting by 20 minutes.

— David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of frustrated

Verb

However, having gone through this first season, many are now baffled as to how the algorithm works.

— Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2026
But, about eight days before the election, when Acker heard that Stevens was thinking about switching her endorsement from El-Sayed to the Republican Senate candidate, Mike Rogers, he was baffled.

— Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of baffled

Verb

After traveling thousands of miles for my first total solar eclipse, I'd been thwarted first by clouds, then by a car park's security lights.

— Anthony Wood, Space.com, 29 Oct. 2026
Every time the twitchy little bug stops for a moment, Snaggletooth focuses to prepare a pounce, only to be thwarted as the fatty snack buzzes to another spot in the nest.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of thwarted

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balk (at)

balked

balked (at)

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“Balked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balked. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of balked

verb

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