as in refuses
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 balks (at)
Verb
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And Avery refuses to let that happen.—
Ryan Wilusz,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026 -
But the porch light, with only one working bulb, refuses to show us the perfect curves of her aloneness.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Against a backdrop of tennis courts, luxury hotels, and colonial privilege, simmering tensions erupt as Lan’s brother Tran rejects his wealthy family’s collaboration with the French to join Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary cause, setting off an assassination that changes everything.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
15 Apr. 2026
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Miami summarily rejects anything resembling tanking because of a long-standing organizational philosophy that isn’t going to be revisited.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At the same time, the USPS has become increasingly dependent on package delivery as first-class mail declines, making large customers like Amazon even more important.—
Barbara Booth,
CNBC,
19 Apr. 2026
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Brandenburg-Koch declines to talk specifically about the Busfield case.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Balks (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balks%20%28at%29. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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