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

He is about to release 'Thriller,' and today he's agreed, reluctantly, to sit for the Rolling Stone cover.

—Gerri Hirshey

Kirsti 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

Examples of reluctantly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After reluctantly being forced to reunite with Detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy), Phil and his partner are forced to overcome their differences and solve the case. —Travis Bean, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024

By late July, Mr. Biden had dropped out of the presidential race, reluctantly. —Katie Rogers, New York Times, 3 Dec. 2024

Even the small batch of cost-benefit analyses that are reluctantly performed fail to reflect the true scale of regulatory intervetion. —Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

When a budget crisis puts this important project in danger, Rose reluctantly returns during the holidays to try to save the day. —Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 27 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined above