/ rɪˈlʌktənt; NAmE / adjective
reluctant (to do sth) hesitating before doing sth because you do not want to do it or because you are not sure that it is the right thing to do :
reluctant agreement
She was reluctant to admit she was wrong.
He finally gave a reluctant smile.
a reluctant hero (= a person who does not want to be called a hero)
► re·luc·tance / -əns; NAmE / noun [ U , sing. ] reluctance (to do sth) :
There is still some reluctance on the part of employers to become involved in this project.
They finally agreed to our terms with a certain reluctance.
► re·luc·tant·ly adverb :
We reluctantly agreed to go with her.
••
WORD ORIGIN
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.