reluctantadjective
uk/rɪˈlʌk.tənt/us/rɪˈlʌk.tənt/C1 not willing to do something and therefore slow to do it:
[ + to infinitive ] I was having such a good time I was reluctant to leave.
Many parents feel reluctant to talk openly with their children.
She persuaded her reluctant husband to take a trip to Florida with her.
More examples
- The United Nations was reluctant to get its forces embroiled in civil war.
- I'm a bit reluctant to get involved.
- The government was reluctant to sanction intervention in the crisis.
- The government is understandably reluctant to do anything which might spoil the harmonious relations between the country's ethnic groups.
- A mother was coaxing her reluctant child into the water.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Unwilling and reluctant
- arsed
- balk
- baulk
- be blowed if... idiom
- be in no mood for sth/to do sth idiom
- begrudge
- deign
- disinclination
- disinclined
- disobliging
- drag your heels/feet idiom
- fag
- jib
- not have the heart to do sth idiom
- not have the stomach for sth idiom
- rather you than me idiom
- reluctance
- shagged
- sticky
- stomach
See more results »
reluctantly
adverb uk/rɪˈlʌk.tənt.li/us/rɪˈlʌk.tənt.li/
C1
She reluctantly agreed to step down as managing director.