{
    "term": "reluctant",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "academic": true,
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "hesitating before doing something because you do not want to do it or because you are not sure that it is the right thing to do",
            "sensetop": "reluctant to do something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He finally gave a reluctant smile."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They nodded in reluctant agreement."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was reluctant to admit she was wrong.",
                    "contextForm": "reluctant to do something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **reluctant hero** *(= a person who does not want to be called a hero)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "For a moment, he felt almost reluctant to leave."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was curiously reluctant to talk about the experience."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Students may feel reluctant to ask questions."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The monarchy was notoriously reluctant to embrace change."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was understandably reluctant to act as a witness."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["appear", "be", "feel"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/rɪˈlʌktənt/",
                "audio": "re/reluctant/reluctant__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/rɪˈlʌktənt/",
                "audio": "re/reluctant/reluctant__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "mid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘writhing, offering opposition’): from Latin reluctant- ‘struggling against’, from the verb reluctari, from re- (expressing intensive force) + luctari ‘to struggle’."
}