as in refuses
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 balks (at)
Verb
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If at a certain point the person refuses to cooperate, recruiters resort to blackmail, Andriy said, threatening to hand over the correspondence to the SBU.—
Daria Tarasova-Markina,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026 -
Nearly six years later, Donovan still refuses to feed into this narrative surrounding his exit from Oklahoma City and his expectations in Chicago.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But Balzano rejects the idea that fast development automatically conflicts with automotive reliability.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
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Gentry rejects the notion that there are more Hancevilles out there, their scandals hidden for now.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As the population ages and the number of college students declines, institutions of higher education are actively cultivating a crop of midlife and older students.—
Allison Aubrey,
NPR,
9 Feb. 2026
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Ed Setzler declines to run to replace Barry Loudermilk.—
Adam Beam,
AJC.com,
9 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Balks (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balks%20%28at%29. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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