conscript
Americannoun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
conscriptsimple
-
conscriptssimple
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have conscriptedperfect
-
has conscriptedperfect
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am conscriptingprogressive
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are conscriptingprogressive
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is conscriptingprogressive
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have been conscriptingperfect progressive
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has been conscriptingperfect progressive
Past
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conscriptedsimple
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had conscriptedperfect
-
was conscriptingprogressive
-
were conscriptingprogressive
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had been conscriptingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of conscript
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin conscrīptus “enrolled,” past participle of conscrībere “to enroll, enlist”; see conscribe ( def. )
Explanation
If you’re ever drafted into the army, then you could be called a conscript, someone who is forced to join the military. At the root of conscript is the Latin word conscriptus, meaning “enroll.” Conscript does involve enrollment — but it’s a forced enrollment, used to describe someone who has been forced to join the military, such as someone who has been drafted. As a verb, conscript means "force to join," like a military that conscripts new soldiers. In contrast, those who choose to join are recruited; when they enter the service, they enlist.
Vocabulary lists containing conscript
The American Civil War
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Ender's Game
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This Week in Words: January 27 - February 2, 2018
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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:
Trudging through snow, a young Finnish conscript carefully draws a thin blue wire between two pine trees.
From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026
Other Nato members do not conscript but have professional militaries.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country.
From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024
He had not handled a gun since he was a teenage conscript in Hitler’s Wehrmacht at the end of World War II.
From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2023
Azareen, fierce and stoic as she was, had one of the prettiest tattoos Sarai had seen—done by Guldan, of course, who was now a conscript in Minya’s wretched army.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
We joined a training session for Denmark’s conscripts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The army has been blighted by several scandals -- particularly over an unpopular mobilisation drive, the treatment of conscripts and reports of widespread absenteeism and equipment shortages in some units.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
General Kundid promises a "very dynamic, very interesting" programme for the conscripts.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
Bern estimated it would double the cost of Switzerland's current militia system, which sees army conscripts do at least four months' service before being called up repeatedly over a decade for weeks-long refresher sessions.
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
The Mexica were subordinated by a nearby city-state on the shore, and the tlatoani was forced to send Mexica men as conscripts for its wars.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Once conscripted, the pressure to sign a fully-fledged army contract often starts within days.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
With able-bodied German men conscripted to fight in the war, workers from the lands the Nazis occupied were drafted to meet the labor shortage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
In the four years that have followed, as the war has ground on and the initial patriotic fervour has died down, thousands more have been conscripted.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
It’s a more straightforward presentation that keeps audience members in their seats, except for a moment when uprising is in the air and a few theatergoers are conscripted to join the ecstatic rebellion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
“We just received some bad news. The emperor has conscripted the men of a village north of here and we”—the king hesitated and glanced around warily—“and we...have friends there.”
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
As a Christian minister of an American Baptist congregation, I’ve spent more than 20 years in a pulpit — long enough to know the difference between protecting a church and conscripting one.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Temporary arrangements to continue it were formally ended by the court last year, forcing the government to begin conscripting the community.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
On November 19, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the government was required to present an effective proposal for conscripting the ultra-Orthodox.
From Barron's ● Nov. 29, 2025
The government is conscripting people to live on Martian colonies.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2022
“But the army is conscripting all our young men.”
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
