compulsion

[kuh m-puhl-shuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR compulsion ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of compelling; constraint; coercion.

the state or condition of being compelled.

Psychology. a strong, usually irresistible impulse to perform an act, especially one that is irrational or contrary to one's will.

Origin of compulsion

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Late Latin compulsiōn- (stem of compulsiō), equivalent to Latin compuls(us), past participle of compellere to compel (com- com- + pul- variant stem + -sus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion

Related formsnon·com·pul·sion, nounpre·com·pul·sion, noun

Can be confusedcompulsion compunction

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

Related Words for compulsion

coercion, obsession, urgency, preoccupation, duty, urge, force, exigency, driving, constraint, prepossession, hang-up, drive, pressure, engrossment, necessity, demand, need, duress, monkey

Examples from the Web for compulsion

Contemporary Examples of compulsion

And many fans may feel a compulsion to add their voice to the crowd shouting out for these rights to be protected.
Iran Won’t Let Women Watch The World Cup
IranWire
June 21, 2014
Ultimately, his fascination with the drug gave way to compulsion and a struggle to break the habit.
Weed Reads: The 10 Best Books on Pot
Roger Roffman
April 27, 2014
Why should the compulsion to excel—which propels these privileged students to Oxford.
Are Britain’s Private Schools Breeding Grounds For Anorexia?
Emma Woolf
March 3, 2014
One step too far, and ambition turns into unrealistic expectations, compulsion into craziness.
Are Female Long-Distance Runners More Prone To Suicidal Depression?
Emily de la Bruyere
February 3, 2014
Like the gymnast and the ballerina, the distance runner is often defined by drive and compulsion.
Are Female Long-Distance Runners More Prone To Suicidal Depression?
Emily de la Bruyere
February 3, 2014

Historical Examples of compulsion

And do you think me so spiritless as to believe that I can be yours by compulsion?
Maid Marian
Thomas Love Peacock
You can wish you had stood all this; inevitable as the compulsion must have been!
Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
I only know that I must wait—that compulsion is greater than my strength to combat.
There is a Reaper ...
Charles V. De Vet
The method of compulsion failed to keep the tenants on the land.
The Enclosures in England
Harriett Bradley
She was driven by a compulsion to which fatigue was nothing.
The Innocent Adventuress
Mary Hastings Bradley

British Dictionary definitions for compulsion

compulsion

noun

the act of compelling or the state of being compelled

something that compels

psychiatry an inner drive that causes a person to perform actions, often of a trivial and repetitive nature, against his or her willSee also obsession

Word Origin for compulsion

C15: from Old French, from Latin compellere to compel

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 compulsion

early 15c., from Middle French compulsion, from Latin compulsionem (nominative compulsio) "a driving, urging," noun of action from past participle stem of compellere "compel" (see compel). Psychological sense is from 1909 in A.A. Brill's translation of Freud's "Selected Papers on Hysteria," where German Zwangsneurose is rendered as compulsion neurosis.

compulsion in Medicine

compulsion

[kəm-pŭl′shən]

n.

An uncontrollable impulse to perform an act, often repetitively, as an unconscious mechanism to avoid unacceptable ideas and desires which, by themselves, arouse anxiety.

compulsion in Culture

compulsion

In psychology, an internal force that leads persons to act against their will. A “compulsive” act cannot be controlled: “Smith was a compulsive gambler.”