balking 1 of 3

adjective

as in frustrating

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balking

2 of 3

noun

as in thwarting

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balking

3 of 3

verb

present participle of balk
as in hampering
to prevent from achieving a goal a young man with big dreams who refused to be balked by the many challenges he faced in making them a reality

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of balking
Verb
Medicare has started coverage of GLP-1s for older adults under the bridge program, but some employers and insurers are balking at paying for the weight-loss medications. — Ken Alltucker, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 Many residents are balking at that timing and at Ryan’s lawsuit against Killingly’s wetlands board for rejecting the first version of the plan on July 6. — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 6 Aug. 2026 Others were less sympathetic, balking at Crespi’s counter-offer and stating that Crespi’s employment must be discussed publicly because the DDA is a public agency beholden to the state’s Sunshine Law. — Tess Riski august 5, Miami Herald, 5 Aug. 2026 But the Senate is balking at that budget, leaving lawmakers far from agreement on a binding piece of legislation that can get 50 GOP votes. — Max Tani, semafor.com, 22 July 2026 Montreal was one of the cities that pulled out of the process after balking at increasing cost estimates. — Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026 Higher education is under siege, with many students and parents balking at high costs. — Washington Post, 10 June 2026 But Democrats are now balking at a long-term extension over their objections to Pulte. — John Parkinson, ABC News, 9 June 2026 GitHub users who have grown accustomed to using its Copilot integration as part of their workflow are balking at cost estimates as the service moves toward per-token billing, rather than per-request billing, Ars Technica reports. — Jon Martindale, PC Magazine, 2 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balking
  1. frustrating
  2. thwarting
  3. hampering
  4. baffling
  5. crossing
  6. stopping
  7. blocking
  8. deterrence
Adjective
  • Cynically or not, Chin and Vasarhelyi understand that these primal thrills are enough to distract us from the frustrating and sorrowful truth at the center of the story.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
  • That’s part of what made the limitations during a few days or drills and only playing six preseason snaps extra concerning and frustrating for the 25-year-old.
    — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of frustrating
Noun
  • To simulate thwarting advances by enemy forces using the bridge, soldiers erected layers of barriers and rolled barbed wire.
    — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The attack’s thwarting was an undeniable success.
    — Shane Harris, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026
Definition of thwarting
Verb
  • Birds visiting the feeder can get the goo on their wings, hampering their ability to fly and possibly leading to their untimely deaths.
    — Joan Morris, Mercury News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Rescuers will use an extrication device and a helicopter, Fathur said, adding that there were no reports of people missing and no challenges hampering the search.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of hampering
Adjective
  • Bugs Bunny being in the real world is frankly not as baffling as Michael Jordan’s detour into minor-league baseball.
    — James Grebey, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The episode submissions this year are a little baffling, often not reflecting the series’ best work.
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of baffling
Noun
  • Rather, changes in snake behavior and movement can increase the chances of people and pets crossing paths with them.
    — Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Those numbers were likely to be updated on ‌Wednesday as China fully reopened the only road leading to the Gyirong border crossing into Nepal, allowing heavy machinery to reach the core disaster zone for the first time.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of crossing
Verb
  • There is really no way to talk about the film unless one falls back on wispy vagaries and pointed allusions to cinematic precedents, or just explaining the act one set-up and then stopping with the warning that things get really weird thereafter.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Plain water can help remove waste from the blood into the urine, stopping kidney stones from forming.
    — Abby Norman, Verywell Health, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of stopping
Adjective
  • The winner was the player who avoided being blocked the longest — a blocking game, a category of strategy game where the objective centers on restricting your opponent’s movement.
    — Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 19 Feb. 2026
Definition of blocking
Noun
  • Anker says this is an active-deterrence camera with an auto-tracking light, 180-degree dual-radar detection, and 4K resolution.
    — Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Despite the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this mix of geography, deterrence, and power has led many Americans to feel almost untouchable at home.
    — Seth G. Jones, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of deterrence

Browse Nearby Words

balkiness
balking
balking (at)
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Cite this Entry

“Balking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balking. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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