conscript
Americannoun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
conscriptsimple
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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
They also park their classic Jeep Wagoneer to conscript Wiig, via FaceTime, to write a “tear-to-your-eye, fun, uptempo, jazzy with a little country” theme song for their journey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
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
Tired as Illia is, the idea of fighting alongside a petrified conscript in a trench is not an appealing one.
From BBC ● May 6, 2024
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
Like other Russian conscripts who described their experiences to AFP, he spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
By comparison, Norway conscripts both men and women, generally for 12 months.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 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
But as we round the first corner, almost all of the exhibits are the work of amateurs, conscripted from civilian life and professionalized into name, rank and number.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
His grandfather had fled their village in 1948 to avoid being conscripted in the civil war that was upending millions of lives.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
A full-size replica of a Spanish galleon stares out into Manila Bay, the centrepiece of a museum that will transport visitors back to the 17th century, when conscripted Philippine mariners hastened the era of globalisation.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 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
At the same time, in Narewka and many other villages throughout Poland, men were conscripted for forced labor.
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
At the same time, Russia was fortifying its defensive lines, converting its economy to war production, conscripting hundreds of thousands of fighters and adjusting its strategy for renewed offensives this winter.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2024
“If it has come to this, that you are conscripting somebody my age, then Biafra has died,” the elderly man said quietly.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
