: Re: Saying something reluctantly dialogue tag or 'said' synonym? For example, I'm rewriting a sex scene and my current dialogue and subsequent dialogue tag is: Almost reluctantly, he said, “Okay,

@Kaufman555

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+1 Amadeus, great answer.

OP, your comments of:

"Hinted" is a
bit too straightforward, and I was hoping to find a similar word that
is a tad more subtle.

I also don't want to keep the modification of said. It's a personal
preference in my writing style not to do that.

Also, I don't think body language would help here and I don't want to
omit a tag, as it's very important to the scene for the reader to know
he doesn't want to do that.

It sounds as though you wish to brainstorm other tags for 'he said, reluctantly,' that feel similar to 'he hinted,' (which you say is too on-the-nose.)

Obviously we can't know what feels right to you, and Amadeus gave a great answer that will lengthen the passage in question. If you want brisk, you have options. Here are a few. It's hard to know what the scene is, exactly. Play with dialog, tag, action, and narrative.

"All right, I'll pull out," he said, because that was the quickest way
to satisfy her.

He hesitated, then said, “Okay, I'll pull out.”

It was as though her request was somehow more than he could handle.
“Okay, I'll pull out," he said at last.

He said, in a stuttering mess, “Okay, I'll pull out now.”

He murmured, “Okay. If it's important to you, I'll pull out.”

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