compulsory

[kuhm-puhl-suh-ree]

adjective

1. required; mandatory; obligatory.

   compulsory education.

   Antonyms: voluntary

2. using compulsion; compelling; constraining.

   compulsory measures to control rioting.

   Antonyms: voluntary

noun

plural

compulsories 

1. something, as an athletic feat, that must be performed or completed as part of a contest or competition.

   The ice skater received a higher score on the compulsories than on her freestyle performance.

compulsory

/ kəmˈpʌlsərɪ /

adjective

1. required by regulations or laws; obligatory

   compulsory education

2. involving or employing compulsion; compelling; necessary; essential

Other Word Forms

• compulsorily adverb
• compulsoriness noun
• noncompulsorily adverb
• noncompulsorilyness noun
• noncompulsory adjective
• quasi-compulsorily adverb
• quasi-compulsory adjective
• uncompulsory adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of compulsory¹

1510–20; < Medieval Latin compulsōrius, equivalent to Latin compul-, variant stem of compellere ( compel ) + -sōrius, for -tōrius -tory ¹; compulsive

Example Sentences

The 330-capacity venue said it had implemented compulsory antisemitism training for senior management and had made a donation to the Community Security Trust, which seeks to protect British Jews from antisemitism.

Read more on BBC

Gaming giant Roblox Corp says it will roll out compulsory facial recognition or ID checks from next month for players wanting to access its chat features.

Read more on Barron's

This reach is essential to the organization’s justification for its mandatory $225-a-year “licence fee,” compulsory for every household that watches television.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This election was the first time that all eligible voters were automatically registered to vote, and voting was compulsory in Chile.

Read more on BBC

Voting is compulsory for the first time since 2012, adding nearly 5 million people to the electorate.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• de rigueur 
• forced 
• imperative 
• mandatory 
• obligatory 
• required www.thesaurus.com