reluctant

From Latin reluctāns, present participle of reluctor (“to struggle against, oppose, resist”), from re- (“back”) + luctor (“to struggle”).

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlʌktənt/

• Audio (US)

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reluctant (comparative more reluctant, superlative most reluctant)

1. (now rare) Opposing; offering resistance (to).
   • Template:RQ: Byron Don Juan
   • 2008, Kern Alexander et al., The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services, page 222:

     They are reluctant to the inclusion of a necessity test, especially of a horizontal nature, and emphasize, instead, the importance of procedural disciplines [...].

2. Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.

   She was reluctant to lend him the money

   Surprisingly, our new dog is a reluctant ball-retriever.

3. (regular expressions) Tending to match as little text as possible.

   Antonym: greedy

• (offering resistance to): refractory
• (not wanting to take some action): unwilling, disinclined

• reluctance
• reluctantly

• reluctant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• reluctant in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• reluctant at OneLook Dictionary Search

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