How to Use reluctant in a Sentence

reluctant

adjective
  • He might agree but seems reluctant to admit it.
  • We were reluctant to get involved.
  • Courts will be very reluctant to do that.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Wilkins was reluctant to leave his team and go to the clinic.
    — Jordan Gonsalves, Time, 1 Dec. 2022
  • Her own dentist was reluctant to talk to her about it.
    — Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Even the most reluctant fish will want to gobble them up.
    — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 26 Mar. 2026
  • None were willing to go on the record, and all were reluctant to talk.
    — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, 21 Aug. 2019
  • Ship crews are reluctant to use the route for fear they could be attacked.
    — Matt Peterson, CNBC, 11 Mar. 2026
  • Some in the city have grown reluctant to talk to reporters.
    — Kanis Leung, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
  • But the state has been reluctant to hinder growth.
    — Evan Bush, NBC news, 7 Mar. 2026
  • The court has been reluctant to expand those groups.
    — Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 13 Jan. 2026
  • Unions have been reluctant to alter those work-from-home rules.
    — Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 9 July 2025
  • Though the girls didn’t know it, their captors were reluctant to harm them.
    — Drew Hinshaw, WSJ, 24 Dec. 2017
  • Price was reluctant to send them so far away, even though their friends were going.
    — Page Leggett, charlotteobserver, 12 July 2018
  • My wife is from the South, and is reluctant to ask her friend to change.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 23 Apr. 2026
  • The poll results show why some on the court might be reluctant to take such a bold step.
    — Scott Clement, William Bishop, Robert Barnes, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Nov. 2021
  • Mills was reluctant to concede the point.
    — Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Many are reluctant to pay outright fines.
    — Liam Knox, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2025
  • My reluctant meat eaters gobbled it down.
    — Jenna Sims, Southern Living, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Teens may be moody, glued to their phones, or reluctant to try new foods or wake up early for tours.
    — Judy Koutsky, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
  • Cops were reluctant at first to charge Augustin with a hate crime.
    — Sheetal Banchariya, New York Daily News, 18 June 2025
  • Chase has shown itself in recent months to be among the most reluctant to do this.
    — David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2021
  • Many locals are reluctant to speak on the record, but some are eager to do so.
    — Michael Tracey, WSJ, 7 July 2020
  • For now, the Bengals are reluctant to make any such move.
    — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Dana took the book, slightly less reluctant.
    — Literary Hub, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Teams had begun to grow reluctant to ask more of their pitching prospects.
    — Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 7 Oct. 2020
  • Ghani has balked, reluctant to give up a key source of leverage in future talks.
    — Nick Wadhams, Bloomberg.com, 5 May 2020
  • After all, some kids are more reluctant than others to be at home alone.
    — Sherri Gordon, Parents, 28 May 2026
  • Tavares is reluctant to leave the home where his children used to visit.
    — Catherine Ellis, Miami Herald, 6 July 2026
  • But many people who have been living on the streets are reluctant to make that first move.
    — John Kelly, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reluctant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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