balked (at)

verb

past tense of balk (at)
as in refused
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 balked (at)
  1. refused
  2. rejected
  3. declined
Verb
  • The head coach lauded improvements from the offensive line, said the running game got better in the second half and refused to throw receiver Romeo Doubs under the bus, noting that drops sometimes happen.
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Anthropic also found evidence that a reseller platform routed refused biology prompts toward models with weaker safeguards.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of refused
Verb
  • A lot of brands rejected [YouTubers] and the new wave of marketing.
    — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 9 Sep. 2026
  • China rejected that and continues to defend its claims to virtually the entire sea passage, a key global trade route that is considered one of Asia’s most active flashpoints.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of rejected
Verb
  • Order could reshape federal wolf protections Gray wolves were first listed as endangered in 1967 after populations declined because of hunting and other human activities.
    — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to provide further comment on the case to Fortune.
    — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of declined
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.

Browse Nearby Words

balked
balked (at)
balkiness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Balked (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balked%20%28at%29. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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