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
-
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
-
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:
Did your sister-in-law coerce or somehow pressure him into paying off her $50,000 debt?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
A fast, he insisted, was not blackmail but an act of suffering intended to awaken rather than coerce.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
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
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
That meant a vigorous federal government with sufficient powers to coerce the citizenry to pay taxes and obey the laws.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Another federal law prohibits voter intimidation, with up to a yearlong prison sentence for anybody who intimidates, threatens, or coerces somebody else with the purpose of interfering with another person’s right to vote.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
“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
She slips away, and I grit my teeth as Grandfather coerces me into a stilted discussion with the governor.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
However, his supporters say he was targeted for blogging about alleged human rights abuses against the Sikh community in India and was coerced into signing a false confession to participation in the killings.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Walters’ supporters further argue that Oxford’s statements implicating Walters—as well as Travis’ testimony against him—were tainted, the result of the men being coerced by police and angling for lighter sentences.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Iglesias, 82, called the accusations "absolutely false", saying he had never "abused, coerced, or disrespected any woman".
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
In 2005, the California government formally apologized for these forced removals, recognizing they were “fundamental violations of … basic civil liberties and constitutional rights” during a period “of illegal deportation and coerced emigration.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
More to the point, the original holders had not been coerced to sell.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
“Detaining people and not giving them the chance to get out of detention is a way of coercing people to give up their claims.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 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
So terribly does selfishness falsify, corrupt and degrade the most delicate moral feelings, coercing them into the giving of two totally diverse verdicts upon one and the same case.
From Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces; or, the Wedded Life, Death, and Marriage of Firmian Stanislaus Siebenkaes, Parish Advocate in the Burgh of Kuhschnappel. by Jean Paul
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
