reluctantly
adverb
re·luc·tant·ly
ri-ˈlək-tənt-lē 
: in a reluctant manner : with aversion or hesitation
The quiet resolution in his voice penetrated her racing thoughts. Reluctantly she gave him a corner of her attention.—
Elizabeth George Speare
Elizabeth George SpeareHe is about to release 'Thriller,' and today he's agreed, reluctantly, to sit for the Rolling Stone cover.—Gerri Hirshey
Gerri HirsheyKirsti had gone to bed reluctantly, complaining that she wanted to stay up with the others, that she was grownup enough, … that it wasn't fair.—Lois Lowry
Lois LowryExamples of reluctantly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When a mission to capture him goes haywire, her only way to survive and save mankind is to pilot a mech suit and reluctantly trust an onboard AI.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 15 May 2024
Its ambling, shambling tour of crashing parties, crashing on available couches, and reluctantly crashing your way into maturity, one misadventure at a time, is not a bug but a feature here.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2024
Maxine reluctantly gets on board but acknowledges that at least society will now come to her versus the other way around.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 8 May 2024
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live on Monday, Charli reluctantly confirmed the rumor when prodded by a caller.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 7 May 2024
The tarot card reading is reluctantly led by Harriet Slater’s Haley, who, like Halberg, is a Minnesota native, and shortly after the friend group returns to their Boston-area university, all hell breaks loose as each individual reading comes true in lethal fashion.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024
Later in the season, Sugar and his confidant Ruby (Kirby) reluctantly attend a reunion event with other members of a secret society, all of whom speak a plethora of languages.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 4 May 2024
And Redstone is said to have reluctantly concluded that a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, a longtime partner of Paramount Pictures, will not be possible.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 3 May 2024
Faced with that complication, Nippon reluctantly withdrew its offer.
—Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 3 May 2024
Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 15 May 2024
Its ambling, shambling tour of crashing parties, crashing on available couches, and reluctantly crashing your way into maturity, one misadventure at a time, is not a bug but a feature here.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2024
Maxine reluctantly gets on board but acknowledges that at least society will now come to her versus the other way around.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 8 May 2024
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live on Monday, Charli reluctantly confirmed the rumor when prodded by a caller.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 7 May 2024
The tarot card reading is reluctantly led by Harriet Slater’s Haley, who, like Halberg, is a Minnesota native, and shortly after the friend group returns to their Boston-area university, all hell breaks loose as each individual reading comes true in lethal fashion.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024
Later in the season, Sugar and his confidant Ruby (Kirby) reluctantly attend a reunion event with other members of a secret society, all of whom speak a plethora of languages.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 4 May 2024
And Redstone is said to have reluctantly concluded that a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, a longtime partner of Paramount Pictures, will not be possible.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 3 May 2024
Faced with that complication, Nippon reluctantly withdrew its offer.
—Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 3 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reluctantly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near reluctantly
Cite this Entry
“Reluctantly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reluctantly. Accessed 23 May. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share