as in hampering
to prevent from achieving a goal
a young man with big dreams who refused to be balked by the many challenges he faced in making them a reality
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in frustrating
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in thwarting
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
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 balking
Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
As age checks become more commonplace across the Internet due to regulatory pressure globally, people motivated to defend digital freedom are balking and increasingly banding together, Gerfdas said.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2025
Not only are moderate Republicans balking at cuts to Medicaid, which were made larger by the Senate, but conservatives are also up in arms over the massive increase in deficit spending, also increased by the upper chamber.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 2 July 2025
Noun
Soliman’s legal team filed statements from all three balking at how DHS had cherry-picked their research.
—Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
As age checks become more commonplace across the Internet due to regulatory pressure globally, people motivated to defend digital freedom are balking and increasingly banding together, Gerfdas said.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2025
Not only are moderate Republicans balking at cuts to Medicaid, which were made larger by the Senate, but conservatives are also up in arms over the massive increase in deficit spending, also increased by the upper chamber.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 2 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balking
Adjective
-
Before last season, his latent talent was obvious, but a frustrating lack of consistency meant the 28-year-old was never — until now — even included in the 30-man shortlist for the award.—
Conor O'Neill,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
-
More frustrating still is when the shoe is on the other foot.—
Bruce Tulgan,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
After much complaining, Bungie reverted some nerfs like hampering the hyper-efficient Solo Ops farm.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Dankowski highlighted that the lack of this information would effectively mean losing one of the most important plasma diagnostic tools, significantly hampering scientific research at ITER and the safe operation of future power reactors.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Fellow Reddit users in the comments section agreed that the situation was baffling.—
Ashlyn Robinette,
People.com,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The baffling Windows 11 update bug that corrupted SSDs now appears to be linked to storage drives running pre-release firmware.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
An estimated 132 paddlers started the 30-mile Catalina crossing journey, with 128 making it to the finish line.—
Laylan Connelly,
Oc Register,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Experiments have demonstrated that these particles can move beyond the digestive tract, entering the bloodstream, crossing cell membranes, and eventually reaching reproductive organs.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The cyanobacteria quickly grew back, thwarting efforts that cost tens of thousands of dollars.—
Keith Matheny,
Freep.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to designate Marilyn Monroe’s former Westside home as a historic cultural monument, thwarting the current owners’ attempt to demolish it.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Beyond its nuclear-deterrence mission, the B-2’s long range and payload capacity have enabled it to deliver large munitions at a distance.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Sep. 2025
-
That inconsequential punishment provides little deterrence for either serial or opportunistic poachers.—
Andrew McKean,
Outdoor Life,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
With conditions restored on the 236-meter flight deck, Barone made multiple warm-up passes to heat the SF90’s V8 engine and then launched from the aft end, stopping safely before ascending the ramp.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Sep. 2025
-
In 2020 and 2021, many endorsed the deplatforming of Covid skeptics and election conspiracy theorists, arguing that there was a public interest in stopping misinformation.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Cruz’s rebuttal didn’t touch on Carlson’s claims of frustration with Netanyahu, which former congressman Matt Gaetz said are largely true based on his relationship with Kirk.—
Robert Schmad,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Sep. 2025
-
However, there is already frustration with him as the starter and fans have been asking about when a change could occur.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Balking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balking. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share