as in refused
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 balked (at)
Verb
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Meanwhile, Larysa was stuck in Belarus, a country allied with Russia that Nataliia despised and had refused to move to, despite her daughter’s many pleas.—
Lizzie Johnson,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026 -
The Nuggets refused to engage, declining to respond on the off day.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At one point, Iran asked to move its games to Mexico, but that request was rejected.—
Anne M. Peterson,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
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Voters in a 1986 retention election rejected Rose Bird, the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, and two liberal colleagues, over dissatisfaction with decisions overturning numerous death penalty sentences.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Westerheide declined to answer follow-up questions about the Patton autopsy.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
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That tax collector, Cheryl Blogoslawski, was suspended from her job in January, not long after a new mayor, Democrat Bobby Sanchez, took office after Stewart declined to seek a seventh two-year term.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
25 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Balked (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balked%20%28at%29. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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