coerce
Americanverb (used with object)
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coerces,
present (3rd person singular)
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coerced,
past participle, past
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coercing
present participle
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to compel by force, intimidation, or authority, especially without regard for individual desire or volition.
They coerced him into signing the document.
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to bring about through the use of force or other forms of compulsion; exact.
to coerce obedience.
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to dominate or control, especially by exploiting fear, anxiety, etc..
The state is based on successfully coercing the individual.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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coercesimple
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coercessimple
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have coercedperfect
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has coercedperfect
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am coercingprogressive
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are coercingprogressive
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is coercingprogressive
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have been coercingperfect progressive
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has been coercingperfect progressive
Past
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coercedsimple
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had coercedperfect
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was coercingprogressive
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were coercingprogressive
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had been coercingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of coerce
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin coercēre “to hold in, restrain,” equivalent to co- co- + -ercēre, combining form of arcēre “to keep in, keep away,” akin to arca ark
Explanation
You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can coerce — or pressure — someone to attend your office holiday party, but you can't make him have fun. If you're at a point where you feel like you need to coerce someone into doing something, it might be more civilized to just give up. To coerce is to manipulate, use aggressive arguments, pressure unfairly, or threaten — really, this isn't very civilized behavior, is it? Handy synonyms for this verb include force and pressure. In a gangster film, you might hear a character say he "put the squeeze" on someone — another way of saying he coerced them.
Vocabulary lists containing coerce
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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:
Vullo, in which the court held that the government cannot use informal tactics, like thinly-veiled threats of selective enforcement or demands for cooperation, to coerce private actors.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
The ruling found the subpoenas related to immigration enforcement were meant to “harass, coerce and retaliate.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed the “unlawful” subpoenas, ruling that “overwhelming evidence” suggested they “were not issued to investigate, but to harass, coerce, and retaliate.”
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
"The approach now is to try and befriend people, rather than coerce them."
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
If he put his mind to it, he could coerce away the whole letter on some pretext of giving it to the police, having the typing analyzed, who knew what he might come up with?
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
“We’re both familiar with what can happen and what has happened, when the state coerces people and restricts fundamental human rights, on a very personal level,” Howald said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
Lawsuits also say the program unconstitutionally coerces drugmakers into selling their products at inadequate prices.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 30, 2023
Just do not be surprised when your sister-in-law ignores any handwritten invitations and coerces you into sending text reminders anyway.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2023
“Amazon coerces merchants into agreements that keep prices artificially high, knowing full well that they can’t afford to say no.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2022
He avoids the ballroom entirely, save for a single waltz when Tsukiko coerces him onto the dance floor.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
"It is a stain on our history. Mothers, many young, vulnerable and without support were coerced, bullied or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them."
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
The patients I know who contributed to the hospital to “honor” their doctor were certainly not coerced.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
His conviction relied on a coerced confession, he told Rebin Rahmani of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, a nonprofit group based in Paris, in a phone call that Rahmani recorded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
It said that he was waiving his right to an attorney, and that he hadn’t been coerced.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
“Nine! Please don’t blame her. It was my fault. I… I coerced it out of her,” Clare said, but he was a terrible liar even at his best.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
I wonder what he thinks might motivate people to serve, instead of coercing them, and he mentions raising salaries.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
District Court for the District of Columbia, accusing them of violating the First Amendment by coercing a private entity to censor speech and threatening prosecution over the exercise of protected speech.
From Slate ● Dec. 8, 2025
Lawyers have accused it of coercing devotees, known colloquially as "Moonies" after its founder, to donate large sums of money.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2025
In the current situation, “the legal argument for broadly coercing a state into doing what you want isn’t really different,” Boushey said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025
In 1775 the address in favour of coercing the colonies was carried by 304 to 105 in the Commons, by 104 to 29 in the House of Lords.
From Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges by George Saintsbury
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.
