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
-
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
Initially, men had to have at least three months of conscript service under their belts before signing a contract.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 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
Unfortunately, it cannot temporarily conscript public roads as the also fading auto racing industry can do.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 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
It is debating lifting the prohibition on conscripts serving outside Sweden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The conscripts then do up to 15 months compulsory training before going back into civilian life, in employment or higher education.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The dumb conscripts are given instant gratification and money.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 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
It was as if the elderly man’s leaving had angered him and that he held not the second soldier but the new conscripts responsible.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"Then I heard they're not just present but one of the playable protagonists? And not even special forces, handled from the perspective of an ordinary conscripted soldier, that's what gets me."
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
"We are glad they are finally gone, because they ruled by fear," said 25-year-old Sonuram Gutta, who said he was conscripted into the insurgency, but was allowed to leave after a few years of fighting.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 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
One kind and patient spectator conscripted to play the school counselor had to remove her shoe to improvise a sock puppet, one of the tools of her empathetic practice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026
Based on their experiences in the Great War, people assumed women and children would be safe, but able-bodied men would be conscripted into the German army as forced laborers.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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.
