Synonyms

reluctantly

American

[ri-luhk-tuhnt-lee] / rɪˈlʌk tənt li /

adverb

without really wanting to; unwillingly.

I told her to take a break, just for one moment, and she reluctantly pulled away from her work.

Other Word Forms

half-reluctantly adverb
unreluctantly adverb

Etymology

Origin of reluctantly

reluctant ( def. ) + -ly

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.

It took until 2019, a year before the company went public, for Karp to — reluctantly — add a sales team to the company.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026

There have been other clear examples of clubs reluctantly cashing in on their academy stars to get above the PSR threshold.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

Air Force Academy, reluctantly leaving only once the lightning in his magical right arm became too powerful to ignore.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

Evy does reluctantly leave the house — we don’t follow her there — and that one moment says as much about crossed-signals communication as anything else in the movie.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026

As it was, he filled the bucket at the well and trudged reluctantly to Hen Wen’s enclosure.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023