- hesitating before doing something because you do not want to do it or because you are not sure that it is the right thing to do
- He finally gave a reluctant smile.
- They nodded in reluctant agreement.
- reluctant to do something She was reluctant to admit she was wrong.
- a reluctant hero (= a person who does not want to be called a hero)
Extra Examples- For a moment, he felt almost reluctant to leave.
- She was curiously reluctant to talk about the experience.
- Students may feel reluctant to ask questions.
- The monarchy was notoriously reluctant to embrace change.
- He was understandably reluctant to act as a witness.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- feel
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘writhing, offering opposition’): from Latin reluctant- ‘struggling against’, from the verb reluctari, from re- (expressing intensive force) + luctari ‘to struggle’.
Check pronunciation:
reluctant