Reluctant vs Unable - What's the difference?
reluctant | unable |
Opposing; offering resistance (to).
* 1819 , Lord Byron, Don Juan , II.108:
* 2008 , Kern Alexander et al., The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services , p. 222:
Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.
Not able; lacking a certain ability.
*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 21, author=Tom Rostance, work=BBC Sport
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As adjectives the difference between reluctant and unable
is that reluctant is opposing; offering resistance (to) while unable is not able; lacking a certain ability.reluctant
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung / Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave, / From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung, / Should suck him back to her insatiate grave [...].
- They are reluctant to the inclusion of a necessity test, especially of a horizontal nature, and emphasize, instead, the importance of procedural disciplines [...].
- She was reluctant to lend him the money
Synonyms
* unwilling, disinclinedExternal links
* * *unable
English
Adjective
(-)Fulham 0-5 Man Utd, passage=Fulham switched off as Giggs took a quick corner to Valencia. He played it back to Giggs, whose cross was headed in by Nani with the lurking Rooney unable to add a touch. }}
Our banks are out of control, passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.}}
- Are you unable to mind your own business or something?