as in unwillingness
a lack of willingness or desire to do or accept something
the mice showed an odd reluctance to eat the cheese we had put out for them
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of reluctance
Their reluctance to promote the album helped confine Reid to an underground status that stuck with subsequent albums Seed of Memory and Rogue Waves.
—
Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 5 Aug. 2025
Each of them has complicated the political calculus for Trump on the world stage, owing not only to the suffering each of them has imposed on Ukrainians and Palestinians, respectively, but also to their reluctance to change course.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Aug. 2025
The Fed's July meeting will follow on the heels of mounting concerns about its independence amid political interference and President Trump's persistent attacks on Chair Jerome Powell for his reluctance to cut rates.
—Nikhil Sharma, USA Today, 23 July 2025
But Wilbur Ross, President Trump’s former commerce secretary, told Fortune that the president’s threats toward Powell may be reinforcing the Fed’s reluctance to cut rates.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 30 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for reluctance
Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 5 Aug. 2025
Each of them has complicated the political calculus for Trump on the world stage, owing not only to the suffering each of them has imposed on Ukrainians and Palestinians, respectively, but also to their reluctance to change course.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Aug. 2025
The Fed's July meeting will follow on the heels of mounting concerns about its independence amid political interference and President Trump's persistent attacks on Chair Jerome Powell for his reluctance to cut rates.
—Nikhil Sharma, USA Today, 23 July 2025
But Wilbur Ross, President Trump’s former commerce secretary, told Fortune that the president’s threats toward Powell may be reinforcing the Fed’s reluctance to cut rates.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 30 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for reluctance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reluctance
Noun
-
But new listings were down also, a sign of seller hesitancy and the end of the peak summer selling season.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
5 Aug. 2025
-
The hesitancy from his end will probably come from a lack of playing time.—
Tom Rende,
Forbes.com,
11 July 2025
Noun
-
Despite their historical reticence to admit getting work done, men are benefiting from the new candor about plastic surgery and other cosmetic interventions.—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
30 July 2025
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The administration's reticence to release the information has fractured the MAGA movement, many of whom saw the Epstein files as a central issue in Trump's reelection campaign.—
Meredith Kile,
People.com,
16 July 2025
Noun
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This hesitance is due to a shortage of anesthesiologists in some areas, unregulated costs of the procedure, and lingering misconceptions about possible side effects, according to experts cited by China Daily.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 June 2025
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Since many experts predict a recession in the near future, this only stokes the fear of loss further when the hesitance is high to begin with.—
Tim Koller,
Time,
20 May 2025
Noun
-
There is little doubt that this is a rapidly developing field and that there are tremendous upsides to be had, but at the same time, regrettably, hidden risks and outright gotchas come into these endeavors too.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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In 1667, further doubts arose as to whether those aforementioned children should be made free by baptism into Christianity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The author’s own disinclination toward literary experiment likely stemmed from a belief that the social demanded more moral attention than the psychological.—
Thomas Mallon,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
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Its weakness is an intermittent lack of vulnerability and an occasional disinclination to leave all of that behind and pull out individual characters who have figured out that their travails flow from the difficulty of stopping American family life from turning into a Sam Shepard play.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
But with the integration of AI comes hesitation and fears of job loss, privacy breaches and misinformation.—
Lauren Giella,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Aug. 2025
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Putin, Kuleba said, only needs one day of hesitation at NATO and European Union headquarters in Brussels to press an attack.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reluctance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reluctance. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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