How to Use reluctance in a Sentence

reluctance

noun
  • This reluctance to share our big dreams is part of what holds us back.
    — Janine MacLachlan, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2022
  • So there was some reluctance to do, to put that kind of pressure on him.
    — CBS News, 24 Oct. 2021
  • Start with the reluctance of the Tour to blow up a business model that, while stressed, has not failed.
    — Eamon Lynch, USA TODAY, 24 July 2022
  • This—the self-doubt, the reluctance to be direct—is my first clue that something is not right.
    — Anna Holmes, The New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Hall has expressed reluctance to ask the team’s best fans, the ones who attend games, to pay even more.
    — Kent Somers, The Arizona Republic, 19 Aug. 2022
  • And in that reluctance to yield to darkness lay perhaps the promise of spring.
    — Martin Weil, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Would there be reluctance on your behalf to talk about it?
    — Eric Andersson, Peoplemag, 9 Sep. 2023
  • All signs point to Branson’s reluctance to keep funding the firm.
    — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 31 Mar. 2023
  • The Maclin character’s reluctance to change his ways is based on truth.
    — Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024
  • The old sycamore, the friends, the long view of my neighborhood, the Twinkies, and finally, the reluctance to return to earth when the parental call to supper came.
    — Robert Klose, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 May 2022
  • But some of it was clearly reluctance for voters to go for Vance.
    — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 15 July 2024
  • Yet, his seeming reluctance to run the ball at times can confound.
    — Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 23 Nov. 2022
  • Did the state’s reluctance to get on board delay the program’s uptake?
    — Ian Max Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 8 May 2024
  • The joint press release tucks the reason for that reluctance away in a dependent clause.
    — Jeremy Lott, Washington Examiner, 4 Jan. 2024
  • The dog's reluctance to get close to others made trying to rescue the dog and free her from the bowl challenging.
    — Chris Barilla, Peoplemag, 18 July 2024
  • Trump has shown reluctance to pressure or speak ill of Putin in public.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 16 May 2025
  • Jones at times showed a reluctance to push the ball downfield — or couldn’t push it due to poor pass protection.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 19 May 2025
  • The person closest to her needs to speak frankly — for the family — about their reluctance to visit the house again.
    — Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 27 Sep. 2024
  • The poison pill and the board’s reluctance to engage with him means the next step is a formal tender offer.
    — Abram Brown, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2022
  • And because of that, there’s a reluctance to take that kind of action, lose money and lose games and playing time.
    — Ira Winderman, sun-sentinel.com, 27 Nov. 2021
  • At the time, club owners’ reluctance to give the band a shot was understandable.
    — oregonlive, 15 Nov. 2021
  • The reason for my reluctance is her poor kitchen hygiene.
    — Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 30 Mar. 2025
  • For many employees, the reluctance to return comes down to the commute.
    — New York Times, 28 Oct. 2021
  • The reluctance of Polish truckers to move to Britain is also a story about how life in Poland has improved in the past decade.
    — New York Times, 28 Nov. 2021
  • Their reluctance to live and work on camera was strong, but their desire to spread the word about the kids who need assistance was stronger.
    — Christine Lennon, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Mar. 2023
  • The researchers suggested that might have been the result of patients’ reluctance to be charged a fee.
    — Benjamin Ryan, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2023
  • This prompted his wife to take him to the hospital despite his reluctance to go.
    — Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 8 May 2024
  • The reluctance to list also is rooted in the worry that a new house won’t be easily found.
    — Ed Stannard, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2024
  • There is an equal reluctance to commemorate milestones, and this year the DRIP marks three of them.
    — Omar El Akkad, Harper's Magazine, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Deep specialization and reluctance to make lateral moves reinforce the idea that up is the only way forward.
    — Tonushree Mondal, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reluctance.' 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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