Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective balky contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of balky are contrary, perverse, restive, and wayward. While all these words mean "inclined to resist authority or control," balky suggests a refusing to proceed in a desired direction or course of action.

a balky witness

When would contrary be a good substitute for balky?

While in some cases nearly identical to balky, contrary implies a temperamental unwillingness to accept orders or advice.

a contrary child

In what contexts can perverse take the place of balky?

While the synonyms perverse and balky are close in meaning, perverse may imply wrongheaded, determined, or cranky opposition to what is reasonable or normal.

a perverse, intractable critic

When is it sensible to use restive instead of balky?

Although the words restive and balky have much in common, restive suggests unwillingness or inability to submit to discipline or follow orders.

tired soldiers growing restive

When is wayward a more appropriate choice than balky?

The words wayward and balky can be used in similar contexts, but wayward suggests strong-willed capriciousness and irregularity in behavior.

a school for wayward youths

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 balky The Rams’ standout quarterback participated in a team workout on Monday for the first time since camp opened, as Stafford and L.A. manages his balky back. Jay Paris, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025 And there are myriad issues for SpaceX's engineers to solve, from engine reliability and the ship's resonant frequency, to beefing up the ship's heat shield and fixing its balky payload bay door. ArsTechnica, 19 June 2025 After winning the first two sets in tiebreaks, Fils fell off a cliff, struggling with his balky back and cramps. Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 30 May 2025 The only thing the matter with him was a balky hamstring that kept him out of 24 games. Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for balky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balky
Adjective
  • There's just something so irresistible about the lace-up flat with its air of rebellious discipline.
    Alex Sales, Glamour, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Singer Kelis has always been rebellious and non-conforming.
    Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Since Gaddafi was removed from power and killed by rebel forces in 2011, Libya has found itself in turmoil — and its domestic football has mirrored its politics.
    Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Less than a year after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali became a Nobel laureate in 2019, a brutal conflict erupted in Tigray, a northern regional state in Ethiopia, between Ethiopian federal military forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, a rebel group.
    Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Erivo will voice Jayne Staplegun, a trailblazing fairy whose defiant streak sparks a rebellion.
    Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2025
  • What unites these screen works, beyond their focus on LGBTQ individuals, themes and audiences, is their defiant messaging, according to NewFest’s director of programming, Nick McCarthy.
    Elaina Patton, NBC news, 9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • These two ingredients mixed together creates a powerful mixture perfect for lifting stubborn stains off grout because of their high cleaning and brightening properties.
    Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Scientists have discovered a cleaner, faster way to recycle one of the world’s most stubborn plastics, not with heat or chemicals, but with sheer mechanical force.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • William meanwhile remained recalcitrant.
    Stacy Schiff, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Anderson plunges the audience into the rebels’ point of view, immersing us in the recalcitrant pride and swagger of Perfidia Beverly Hills, a revolutionary leader played by Teyana Taylor with a hypnotic sneer of defiance.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • In March 2024, Karen was arrested and charged with a DUI and DWI, negligently driving a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner endangering property, life, and person, as well as recklessly driving a vehicle in wanton and willful disregard for the safety of persons and property.
    Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The three, from Southern California, were arrested and booked into Mono County Jail on suspicion of willful discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, a felony.
    Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • All at once, Vance had made an obstreperous return to the center of the national stage—and so did the memes.
    Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 19 Mar. 2025
  • In some ways, Paul has been less obstreperous than them.
    Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 18 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • On Thursday, after a wayward drive landed in the left rough on the par-4 eighth hole, Rahm’s mood soured.
    Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
  • On that Thursday in early fall, the 40-foot wayward adult humpback male took a wrong turn on his migration from Alaska to Mexico and was spotted near Oakland’s Outer Harbor.
    Helen Harlan, Sacbee.com, 9 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Balky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balky. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

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