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
But the reality is that Palace have never operated like a true multi-club group, due primarily to Parish’s reluctance to embrace that model.
—
Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Trump, who appointed Powell as Fed chair in 2018, has insisted that the Fed's reluctance to sharply cut interest rates is damaging the U.S. economy and costing taxpayers billions of dollars in debt servicing.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
The front office’s reluctance to shop in a seller’s market is understandable, considering the most attractive possibilities are by no means sure things.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025
The lower reading also followed a decline in purchasing activity following a reluctance to hold excess inventories as well as a fall in employment, the survey results showed.
—Amala Balakrishner, CNBC, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for reluctance
Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Trump, who appointed Powell as Fed chair in 2018, has insisted that the Fed's reluctance to sharply cut interest rates is damaging the U.S. economy and costing taxpayers billions of dollars in debt servicing.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
The front office’s reluctance to shop in a seller’s market is understandable, considering the most attractive possibilities are by no means sure things.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025
The lower reading also followed a decline in purchasing activity following a reluctance to hold excess inventories as well as a fall in employment, the survey results showed.
—Amala Balakrishner, CNBC, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for reluctance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reluctance
Noun
-
Still, the uncertainty surrounding his foot — and, frankly, his wage dispute — could likely yield to some hesitancy.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
25 July 2025
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Others have suggested that there may be a link to more widespread hesitancy around government intervention on individual health that ramped up during the Covid-19 pandemic.—
Deidre McPhillips,
CNN Money,
24 July 2025
Noun
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Take the two pages where Dyer writes about his father’s extreme reticence about his own past.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
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The more acute risk — and, sources say, the primary reason for Trump’s reticence to act against Powell — is the expectation that any move would immediately trigger a significant market sell-off.—
Phil Mattingly,
CNN Money,
11 July 2025
Noun
-
Yet there remains a hesitance about criticizing the president directly.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
12 July 2025
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Still, there is a hesitance to accept psychedelics in the psychiatric community.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
20 June 2025
Noun
-
Eleven are ready to convict—until one juror (Henry Fonda, also the film’s producer) raises quiet, persistent doubts.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
29 July 2025
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There is always going to be debate about who is the sport’s GOAT, but Hagen is always in the discussion, and with a doubt, one of the very, very best and highest profile golfers to ever live.—
Larry Olmsted,
Forbes.com,
29 July 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
-
The right people are drawn to energy, not hesitation.—
JW Roth,
Forbes.com,
18 July 2025
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Decades later in an interview with The Saturday Evening Post, Brolin reflected on his initial hesitation to take the role.—
Alexandra Schonfeld,
People.com,
18 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reluctance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reluctance. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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