Re*luc"tance (r?-l?k"tans), Re*luc"tan*cy (-tan-s?), n. [See Reluctant.]
The state or quality of being reluctant; repugnance; aversion of mind; unwillingness; -- often followed by an infinitive, or by to and a noun, formerly sometimes by against.
"Tempering the severity of his looks with a
reluctance to the action."
Dryden.
He had some reluctance to obey the summons.
Sir W. Scott.
Bear witness, Heaven, with what reluctancy
Her helpless innocence I doom to die.
Dryden.
© Webster 1913.