as in rebellion
refusal to obey
the teen's unrelenting balkiness was truly frustrating
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balkiness
Noun
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We were labeled as ‘frat rock’ by more than one magazine, but that in itself was almost a rebellion against the homogenization of what was then grunge.—
Josh Crutchmer,
Rolling Stone,
5 Mar. 2026 -
Punk has always been about rebellion and rejecting the status quo.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Successors have fewer incentives to compromise and greater incentives to demonstrate defiance.—
Robert A. Pape,
Mercury News,
3 Mar. 2026
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Amini’s defiance, and subsequent death, caused the country to erupt in protest, and the outrage reverberated worldwide.—
Lily Moayeri,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Though the Durutti Column had been a disaster, Wilson was fascinated by the guitarist, who admired punk’s willfulness even though his own musical taste tended toward jazz, blues, and the classical tradition.—
Brad Shoup,
Pitchfork,
24 Jan. 2026
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The orphan’s predicament is as much a matter of willfulness as of survival—inseparable, as in the works of Charles Dickens, from a dream of being somehow rescued by the idea of an adult world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
In March, someone could undermine your plans accidentally or out of envy or disrespect.—
Magi Helena,
Dallas Morning News,
2 Mar. 2026
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Those dousings also prompted outrage from police leaders — who decried it as an inexcusable sign of disrespect, and even suggested that officers willing to walk away from that kind of horseplay should consider another line of work.—
Anthony Izaguirre,
Fortune,
26 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Balkiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balkiness. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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