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Synonyms

enforce

American

[en-fawrs, -fohrs] / ɛnˈfɔrs, -ˈfoʊrs /

verb (used with object)

to put or keep in force; compel obedience to.

to enforce a rule; Traffic laws will be strictly enforced.

Synonyms:

apply, execute, impose, administer
to obtain (payment, obedience, etc.) by force or compulsion.
to impose (a course of action) upon a person.

The doctor enforced a strict dietary regimen.
to support (a demand, claim, etc.) by force.

to enforce one's rights as a citizen.
to impress or urge (an argument, contention, etc.) forcibly; lay stress upon.

He enforced his argument by adding details.

enforce British

/ ɪnˈfɔːsɪdlɪ, ɪnˈfɔːs /

verb

to ensure observance of or obedience to (a law, decision, etc)
to impose (obedience, loyalty, etc) by or as by force
to emphasize or reinforce (an argument, demand, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of enforce

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English enforcen, from Anglo-French enforcer, Old French enforcier, enforc(ir), from en- en- ¹ + forci(e)r “to compel, strengthen” ( see force)

Explanation

To enforce means to make sure the laws and rules are being followed. So those guys wearing striped outfits and whistles? They're in charge of enforcing the rules of the game. See the word force inside of enforce? It can help you remember that enforce is all about forcing others to follow the rules. The traffic police enforce the driving laws by handing out speeding tickets. Your parents hopefully enforce good behavior by grounding you when you stay out too late. It would be wonderful if everyone just followed the rules on their own, but it seems the temptation to be bad is just too strong. So thank goodness for all the enforcers that keep us in line.

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Vocabulary lists containing enforce

Stay Strong: Forc and Fort

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13th Amendment (1865)

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19th Amendment (1920)

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

enforce enforces enforced enforcing

His decision not to enforce the state’s stay-at-home order turned him into a national figure.

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026

The effort could be hard to enforce because power prices are often decided by state regulators and electricity buyers and sellers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

"The US has laws to prohibit trading goods with forced labor. Other countries, most don't have a law, those that do don't really enforce it," he said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recommended tariffs of 10% to 12.5% for 60 trading partners because of their “failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Sheriff Freas was also no longer leading the investigation; that February, he was expelled from office after a jury had found him guilty of failing to enforce the law.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

For more than a decade, aircraft entering Yemeni airspace have needed prior clearance from the Saudi-led coalition that backs the government and says it enforces the restriction at its request.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

Paxton cannot claim ignorance of the law because he enforces it, said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

U.S. law generally enforces a quiet period for 40 days after the IPO during which time the company and any of the underwriters are prohibited from any communications on the stock.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026

He has vowed to ensure the city enforces its laws.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

The developmental history of double monsters enforces the same doctrine; such are common among the embryos of fish, and rather less common among chicks.

From The Biological Problem of To-day Preformation Or Epigenesis? The Basis of a Theory of Organic Development by Hertwig, Oscar

Advocates of private-school voucher programs argue against restrictions on how the schools operate and push back against the type of oversight enforced on public schools.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

These parents read the new constitutional guarantees of freedom for themselves, and demanded they be enforced, long before any Supreme Court told them what those words meant.

From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2026

But the union alleges that this was not enforced by Oh's employer.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The program is specific to the city of Santa Monica and will only be enforced within city limits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Segregation laws and customs in the South between the two races were strictly enforced.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Even if legislation and associated technical standards were introduced, Richard Dilks acknowledges enforcing them would remain difficult.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

At the IRS, which has rotated through a half-dozen leaders during the Trump administration, Bisignano is also tasked with enforcing the tax law with a smaller staff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

“We are simplifying the organization, strengthening leadership, enforcing accountability and aligning our structure with the priorities that matter most: customers, quality, and innovation,” Napoli said in a statement.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

It maps on pretty cleanly because a lot of the cases that people really like involve the court enforcing federal legislation.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

First, let’s consider the absence of overt racial hostility among politicians who support harsh drug laws and the law enforcement officials charged with enforcing them.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023