coerce

[koh-urs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR coerce ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), co·erced, co·erc·ing.

to compel by force, intimidation, or authority, especially without regard for individual desire or volition: They coerced him into signing the document.

to bring about through the use of force or other forms of compulsion; exact: to coerce obedience.

to dominate or control, especially by exploiting fear, anxiety, etc.: The state is based on successfully coercing the individual.

Origin of coerce

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin coercēre to hold in, restrain, equivalent to co- co- + -ercēre, combining form of arcēre to keep in, keep away, akin to arca ark

Related formsco·erc·er, nounco·er·ci·ble, adjectivenon·co·er·ci·ble, adjectiveun·co·erced, adjective

Can be confusedcoerce compel constrain force oblige

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for coerced

bully, intimidate, suppress, repress, strong-arm, browbeat, terrorize, hinder, bulldoze, force, cow, urge, oblige, make, drive, impel, beset, push, threaten, constrain

Examples from the Web for coerced

Contemporary Examples of coerced

No doubt, there are wrongful convictions that result from misidentification and coerced confessions.
How I Stopped My Rapist
Natasha Alexenko
November 24, 2014
The police eventually obtained two written confessions that the brothers would describe as coerced.
How the North Carolina GOP Made a Wrongfully Convicted Man a Death Row Scapegoat
Michael Daly
September 4, 2014
Her mother, from the United States, had been coerced by friends into organizing the operation.
Egypt: Stop Mutilating Little Girls!
Bel Trew
April 26, 2014
I was coerced into receiving oral sex from a girl I did not want to have sex with.
Why Has the Public Forgiven R. Kelly for His Sordid, Predatory Past?
Marlow Stern
December 9, 2013
While still living with Marion, Flemmi coerced Debbie Hussey at the age of 18 into a sexual relationship (he was 42).
The Hidden Horror of Whitey Bulger’s Trial
T.J. English
July 22, 2013

Historical Examples of coerced

Something in him at once coerced her friendliest confidence.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
No one is coerced to labour, but in proportion as a man does labour he makes use of capital.
Freeland
Theodor Hertzka
And this activity is spontaneous, in the sense that it is not coerced from without.
Mind and Motion and Monism
George John Romanes
I have no doubt that the coerced perusal of them to which he had to submit did him a deal of good.
The Book-Hunter
John Hill Burton
If she could be so coerced we would destroy her brain before she could act.
Masters of Space
Edward Elmer Smith

British Dictionary definitions for coerced

coerce

verb

(tr) to compel or restrain by force or authority without regard to individual wishes or desires

Derived Formscoercer, nouncoercible, adjective

Word Origin for coerce

C17: from Latin coercēre to confine, restrain, from co- together + arcēre to enclose

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

Word Origin and History for coerced

coerce

mid-15c., cohercen, from Middle French cohercer, from Latin coercere "to control, restrain, shut up together," from com- "together" (see co-) + arcere "to enclose, confine, contain, ward off," from PIE *ark- "to hold, contain, guard" (see arcane). Related: Coerced; coercing. No record of the word between late 15c. and mid-17c.; its reappearance 1650s is perhaps a back-formation from coercion.