compel
to force or drive, especially to a course of action: His disregard of the rules compels us to dismiss him.
to secure or bring about by force.
to force to submit; subdue.
to overpower.
Archaic. to drive together; unite by force; herd.
to use force.
to have a powerful and irresistible effect, influence, etc.
Origin of compel
1synonym study For compel
Other words for compel
Other words from compel
- com·pel·la·ble, adjective
- com·pel·la·bly, adverb
- com·pel·lent, adjective
- com·pel·ler, noun
- com·pel·ling·ly, adverb
- pre·com·pel, verb (used with object), pre·com·pelled, pre·com·pel·ling.
- un·com·pel·la·ble, adjective
Words that may be confused with compel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use compel in a sentence
The mission and values of The San Diego Foundation compel me to take steps forward for the benefit of those among us who are under-resourced and under-represented in society.
Reversing Racism Will Take Every Tool Available — Including Prop. 16 | Mark Stuart | October 28, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoI feel personally really compelled to do everything in my power to help remedy that wrong.
Sacramento Report: Gonzalez Isn’t Spending on the Ballot Measure You Might Think | Sara Libby | October 16, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoHer mother is talking to her again, and, as of last fall, she no longer felt compelled to cover her own chin tattoo while at work.
Swayed by her age, particularly expectations of where she should be at this stage in life, Radha feels compelled to take it, only to find that what may have worked in the early years of her journey may not work for the woman she is now.
‘The Forty-Year-Old Version’ Creator Radha Blank on Seeing Herself and Missing Her Mother | cmurray | October 9, 2020 | Essence.comWhen they’re together, the show feels compelled to give them conflict, and most of it’s forced and inorganic.
British Dictionary definitions for compel
/ (kəmˈpɛl) /
to cause (someone) by force (to be or do something)
to obtain by force; exact: to compel obedience
to overpower or subdue
archaic to herd or drive together
Origin of compel
1Derived forms of compel
- compellable, adjective
- compellably, adverb
- compeller, noun
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
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