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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Stargirl
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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.
I wasn’t sure what the reluctance was, but then they announced a Detroit date, and I no longer had the excuse that I wasn’t going to travel to see this.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
A final stumbling block can be reluctance to give up a high-deductible insurance plan at work, which allows an employee to save money for retirement in a health savings account.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The Republic of Ireland is not the only nation to have expressed reluctance to face Israel in international football.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Others who tried to coax transporation funding through the Legislature cited varied reasons for the state’s apparent reluctance to make Olympics funding a higher priority, including:
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Peeta seems to be struck with the same reluctance I’m experiencing.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
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.
