coerce
Americanverb (used with object)
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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:
Therefore, it is more likely and perhaps beneficial if England apply some pressure, looking to coerce Norway into playing in a way they have prepared for.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 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
It would be just as unethical for a therapist to use treatment to pressure someone into being LGBTQ+ as it is to use treatment to coerce someone out of being such an identity.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2026
It is manufactured scarcity designed to coerce consumers into a single brokerage’s ecosystem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
In this very weak sense, of course, mathematics is constraining, as is all reality, but it has no independent power to coerce.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
“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
On top of that, Amazon coerces those third party sellers into signing up for Amazon’s own fulfillment and advertising services — leading to increased costs that then get passed on to customers, the FTC argues.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
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
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
When I made him repeat the parts of his testimony about being coerced to testify falsely, Ralph remained calm and conveyed absolute sincerity.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
“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
"The observers do not allege any verbal instruction or physical conduct that indicated one person was directing or coercing another regarding how to vote."
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
Just a month earlier, however, the court unanimously reaffirmed that the First Amendment forbids the government from coercing companies into suppressing expression.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 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
To the Captain-General this seemed the proper occasion for some nice diplomacy, for coaxing with fair words instead of coercing with violence.
From The History of Cuba, vol. 3 by Johnson, Willis Fletcher
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.
