Reluctantly

How to spell reluctantly

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce reluctantly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reluctantly mean?

1. adverbIn an unwilling manner; showing that one is doing something against one's wishes.

Reluctantly in a sentence

• She reluctantly agreed to work the extra shift over the weekend.

• He reluctantly handed over his car keys after the doctor's advice.

Where does reluctantly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb luctari, which literally meant 'to wrestle' or 'to struggle', the same physical sense you would find in a wrestling match. Adding the prefix re-, meaning 'against' or 'back', produced reluctari, 'to struggle against' or 'to strain in opposition'. From the present participle reluctant- English took the adjective 'reluctant' in the seventeenth century, describing someone whose inner resistance makes them hold back, as if wrestling against the thing they must do. The adverb 'reluctantly' was then formed in the usual English way by adding -ly. Keeping the buried 'luct' in mind, from that wrestling root, helps explain the spelling, since the unstressed middle syllables can otherwise blur together when written from memory.

How the word is built

• re- (against)
• luct (from Latin luctari: to struggle, wrestle)
• -ant (adjective ending)
• -ly (adverb ending)