What does reluctant mean?

Definitions for reluctant
rɪˈlʌk təntre·luc·tant

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word reluctant.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. loath, loth, reluctantadjective

    unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom

    "a reluctant smile"; "loath to admit a mistake"

  2. reluctantadjective

    disinclined to become involved

    "they were usually reluctant to socialize"; "reluctant to help"

  3. reluctantadjective

    not eager

    "foreigners stubbornly reluctant to accept our ways"; "fresh from college and reluctant for the moment to marry him"

Wiktionary

  1. reluctantadjective

    Opposing; offering resistance (to).

  2. reluctantadjective

    Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.

    She was reluctant to lend him the money

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Reluctantadjective

    Unwilling; acting with repugnance.

    Etymology: reluctans, Lat.

    Reluctant; but in vain! a greater pow’r
    Now rul’d him. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. x.

    Some refuge in the muse’s art I found;
    Reluctant now I touch’d the trembling string
    Bereft of him, who taught me how to sing. Thomas Tickell.

ChatGPT

  1. reluctant

    Reluctant refers to being unwilling or hesitant to do something, generally arising from fear, dislike or unwillingness. It expresses a lack of enthusiasm or resistance towards a particular action or situation.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Reluctantadjective

    striving against; opposed in desire; unwilling; disinclined; loth

  2. Reluctantadjective

    proceeding from an unwilling mind; granted with reluctance; as, reluctant obedience

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Reluctant

    rē-luk′tant, adj. struggling or striving against: unwilling: disinclined.—v.i. Rēluct′, to make resistance.—ns. Reluc′tance, Reluc′tancy, state of being reluctant: unwillingness.—adv. Reluc′tantly.—v.i. Reluc′tāte, to be reluctant.—n. Reluctā′tion, repugnance. [L. reluctans, -antis, pr.p. of reluctārire-, against, luctāri, to struggle.]

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'reluctant' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4395

  2. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'reluctant' in Adjectives Frequency: #595

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce reluctant?

How to say reluctant in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of reluctant in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of reluctant in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of reluctant in a Sentence

  1. Timothy Head:

    Even a lot of people who identify as being pro-choice, it's almost a reluctant, ambivalent pro-choice. There are some that celebrate it, but there are a lot in that choice community see it as the lesser of two evils in their own decision-making path.

  2. Mark Lemley:

    While courts are reluctant to define single-brand markets, it seems appropriate to do so here, if you own an iPhone, you can only buy apps through the Apple App Store... People aren't going to switch phone ecosystems based on the availability of a single app.

  3. Mitt Romney:

    I've been reluctant from the beginning trying to advise House Democratic on how they should proceed, now that the speaker has scheduled a vote on the impeachment inquiry, I think the issue has been over taken by events.

  4. Tim Kaine:

    Easy in the sense, of course Many Democrats's qualified to be Secretary of Defense. ... It's complicated because this waiver issue is not a minor thing. It's not a technicality. We take it very seriously. We were really reluctant to do it for James Mattis, even under extreme circumstances that don't apply to the situation right now. he believes he can do that.

  5. Bill Cassidy:

    You have to have an umpire, even if the umpire occasionally gets it wrong, because otherwise you are only accepting analysis by people with motivations define certain answers, and so I am very reluctant to disregard what the CBO score is.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

reluctant#10000#14720#100000

Translations for reluctant

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"reluctant." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/reluctant>.

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    identifying word or words by which someone or something is called and classified or distinguished from others
    A incumbent
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    C appellative
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