as in to refuse
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 balk (at)
Verb
-
The Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional the line-item veto in 1998, by which former President Bill Clinton unilaterally refused to spend money appropriated for particular purposes.—
Kevin R. Kosar,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025 -
In June, the Democratic group of senators accused the Department of Education of refusing to comply with Warren's monthslong congressional investigation into what, if any, records have been accessed by DOGE employees that could be sensitive.—
Arthur Jones II,
ABC News,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In July 2007, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves after rejecting an eight-year, $140 million contract extension.—
Taylor Millard,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Ukrainians overwhelmingly reject ceding territory.—
Oleksandra Matviichuk,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Local police sought to have an alert sent out the Friday before they were found dead, but the agency that manages the program in Washington state declined to do so.—
Matt Lavietes,
NBC news,
19 Sep. 2025
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Investors eventually demanded their money back, causing Artamonov to return less than $400,000 by paying original investors with money from new investors or by declining to reimburse them at all, the indictment said.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That’s still true now, even as that back has a degenerative disorder that led to weeks missed in training camp and has this 37-year-old dirting the ball in the face of rushers and passing up lanes to rush for touchdowns.—
Nate Atkins,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
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Unless there are some screaming deals and mark-downs that are impossible to pass up.—
Catharine Kaufman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Balk (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balk%20%28at%29. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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