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# reluctant

«reluctant» in Mova's school dictionary: **Not wanting to do something, and so slow to do it** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (reluctant; more reluctant, most reluctant)

### meaning for a pupil

Not wanting to do something, and so slow to do it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In stories it shows a character's feeling: a reluctant hero. In everyday life children may be reluctant to go to bed or try new food. Phrases: reluctant to, a reluctant reader, a reluctant hero.

### examples

- He was reluctant to jump into the cold water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#x1)
- She was a reluctant reader until she found comics. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#x2)
- The dog was reluctant to leave the beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#x3)
- I was reluctant to tell Mum about the broken vase. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#x4)
- The reluctant hero finally agreed to help. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#x5)
- They were reluctant to spend all their savings. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#x6)
- She seemed very reluctant, but at last she said: [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/#x7)

### note

Adverb: reluctantly; noun: reluctance. Followed by «to» + verb: reluctant to go. Same family as unwilling; opposite of eager or keen.

### In the corpora

- ["Reluctant reader" means a child who dislikes or struggles with reading.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/17-school-and-pets/12/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «reluctant» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reluctant/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.