What is another word for balk at?

Pronunciation: [bˈɔːlk at] (IPA)

When we talk about "balk at", we can think of several synonyms for this phrase. One of the most common synonyms for this phrase is "hesitate", as it perfectly describes the feeling of reluctance and uncertainty that comes with refusing to do something. We can also use alternatives like "resist", "object", "recoil", or "shy away" to convey a more specific meaning. Depending on the context, we can even use more colorful expressions like "dig in one's heels" or "put up a fight". Regardless of the synonym we choose, the message remains the same: there's some form of opposition or objection to taking action.

What are the hypernyms for Balk at?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

Famous quotes with Balk at

  • Presidents with strong nerves are decisive. They don't balk at unpopular decisions. They are willing to make people angry. Bush had strong nerves. Clinton, who passed up a chance to eliminate Osama bin Laden, did not. Obama is a people pleaser, a trait not normally associated with nerves of steel.
    Fred Barnes
  • I don't ever balk at being considered a Motown person, because Motown is the greatest musical event that ever happened in the history of music.
    Smokey Robinson
  • Most of us balk at her soporific rigmaroles, her echolaliac incantations, her half-witted-sounding catalogues on numbers; most of us read her less and less. Yet, remembering especially her early work, we are still always aware of her presence in the background of contemporary literature— and we picture her as the great pyramidal Buddha of Jo Davidson's statue of her, eternally and placidly ruminating the gradual developments of the process of being, registering the vibrations of a psychological country like some august human seismograph whose charts we haven't the training to read.
    Gertrude Stein

Semantically related words: rebel, high and mighty, averse to, reluctant, deterred, resistant to

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Semantically related questions:

  • Why do people balk at change?
  • Are people really averse to change?
  • How do people rebel against authority?
  • Why do people rebel and resist authority?
  • Why do people oppose change?
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