reluctance
Americannoun
-
unwillingness; disinclination.
reluctance to speak in public.
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Electricity. the resistance to magnetic flux offered by a magnetic circuit, determined by the permeability and arrangement of the materials of the circuit.
noun
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lack of eagerness or willingness; disinclination
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physics a measure of the resistance of a closed magnetic circuit to a magnetic flux, equal to the ratio of the magnetomotive force to the magnetic flux
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reluctance
First recorded in 1635–45; reluct(ant) + -ance
Explanation
Reluctance means "unwillingness." Your reluctance to travel on an airplane would be understandable if you glimpsed the pilot and copilot wearing party hats and blowing noisemakers. If you'd rather not do something, you feel a sense of reluctance about it. You pause for a moment, maybe to consider whether you should really go through with it, or just to enjoy the last moment before it happens. The word comes from the Latin reluctari, or to struggle against. There's always a struggle when reluctance is present, in that you feel pressure to do something or in not agreeing right away, someone is going to be disappointed.
Vocabulary lists containing reluctance
Coraline
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The findings suggest that Western reluctance to eat insects may have roots that extend far beyond recent customs or religious traditions.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
Provinces have shown reluctance to lift their own restrictions, but Ouellet said that overall "the Canadian market has been reinvigorated and there is more domestic trade."
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Normally a potential reluctance among those three sovereigns to buy U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
He has been repeatedly linked with a move away from Craven Cottage in this transfer window and so there is a reluctance to include him in gameweek one drafts.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
“I’ll get it,” I said with no small amount of reluctance.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
