reluctant dragon
- noun
- Literature
:
dragón reacio
- In the school play, she played the role of the reluctant dragon who refused to fight the knight.
Examples
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The team needed a champion, but their leader remained a reluctant dragon, hesitant to take charge.
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Despite his skills, Mark acted like a reluctant dragon when asked to defend his opinions.
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The reluctant dragon chose to hide rather than fight.
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Why is the reluctant dragon so afraid of humans?
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In the story, the reluctant dragon preferred to make friends rather than battle the knights.
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She described her coworker as a reluctant dragon for his unwillingness to share his ideas in meetings.
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The hero faced many challenges, but he found a reluctant dragon who would not attack, hoping to avoid conflict.
Antonyms
How Reluctant
1
6.7
- Literature
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: 'reluctant' (hesitant, unwilling) combined with 'dragon' (a fierce or formidable creature) yields a hesitant or non-confrontational dragon. Although 'dragon' can function metaphorically for a fierce person, the combination is compositional and a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the intended sense from context.
Etymology
The phrase reluctant dragon comes from a children's story where the dragon is gentle and reluctant to fight. So it is used for a person who is unwilling or shy about confrontation, meaning 'to avoid conflict'.