Reluctancies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A condition marked by a hesitation to participate or act
2. The feeling of hesitating or being unwilling to take action or make decisions
3. A state where one shows doubt or lack of eagerness to engage in an activity

Etymology: "Reluctancies" is simply the plural of "reluctancy," so the substance lies in the root. The noun is built from "reluctant" plus the suffix "-ancy," and "reluctant" comes from Latin "reluctor," meaning "to struggle against, oppose, resist." That verb combines "re-," meaning "back," with "luctor," meaning "to struggle," so the original picture is of someone pushing back against a force. The word is a doublet of "reluctance," meaning that both forms descend from the same Latin verb but reached English by different routes and took different endings. "Reluctance" is the more familiar of the two, while "reluctancy" is the less common variant, and the plural form appears when several separate instances of hesitation are being described.

Synonyms: unwillingnesses, hesitations, reservations, disinclinations, oppositions