as in pressure
the use of power to impose one's will on another
in that class I read books under compulsion that I ordinarily wouldn't have considered
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Recent Examples of compulsion
His compulsion to take a rock and roll path also had a lot to do with girls.
—
Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 5 June 2025
This city, home to an industry drawing us by compulsion into a disembodied parareality—an industry whose costliest venture to date, the metaverse, was a $36 billion effort to rivet headsets to all our faces—remained obstinately physical, a place where danger and distress came at you.
—Andrew Kay, Harpers Magazine, 28 May 2025
The system continued, musing earnestly: Is this response born of love and wisdom, or is it born of compulsion?
—D. Graham Burnett, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2025
This film left us thinking about big topics like truth, persuasion, and compulsion, positioning us alongside the filmmaker and leading us to want to talk and think about this film for hours.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 5 June 2025
This city, home to an industry drawing us by compulsion into a disembodied parareality—an industry whose costliest venture to date, the metaverse, was a $36 billion effort to rivet headsets to all our faces—remained obstinately physical, a place where danger and distress came at you.
—Andrew Kay, Harpers Magazine, 28 May 2025
The system continued, musing earnestly: Is this response born of love and wisdom, or is it born of compulsion?
—D. Graham Burnett, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2025
This film left us thinking about big topics like truth, persuasion, and compulsion, positioning us alongside the filmmaker and leading us to want to talk and think about this film for hours.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compulsion
Noun
-
The vote has coincided with efforts by Beijing to raise its military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan.—
Jan Camenzind Broomby,
NPR,
26 July 2025
-
His game plan was to move forward, pressure Volkanovski and land with power.—
Trent Reinsmith,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
Noun
-
The graphic novel format gave him the freedom to imagine without limitation—unbound by the logistical constraints of filmmaking.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
14 July 2025
-
Davis is a magnetic front man, and the Roadhouse Band is an intoxicatingly raucous live outfit, but the constraints of the setup suited his new material, which is suffused with listlessness and yearning, dark jokes and wordy disquisitions on desire.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
Noun
-
Since Carter was found guilty in connection with her son’s death, Lynn has been working to criminalize suicide coercion in Massachusetts.—
Lynsey Eidell,
People.com,
12 July 2025
-
Blunt instrument The Supreme Court’s new test, with its implicit suggestion that coercion is found in exposure to materials that go against central tenets of parental religion, is more sledgehammer than scalpel.—
Stephen L. Carter,
Mercury News,
8 July 2025
Noun
-
Once contained to local disputes resolved between communities, the violence has exploded into mass killings fueled by population growth, the climate crisis, and the collapse of traditional peacemaking.—
Emmanuel Akinwotu,
NPR,
26 July 2025
-
At least two of the Kenyan officers have been killed and the violence has not abated.—
Michael Rios,
CNN Money,
25 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Compulsion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compulsion. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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