conscript
Americannoun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
conscriptsimple
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conscriptssimple
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have conscriptedperfect
-
has conscriptedperfect
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am conscriptingprogressive
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are conscriptingprogressive
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is conscriptingprogressive
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have been conscriptingperfect progressive
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has been conscriptingperfect progressive
Past
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conscriptedsimple
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had conscriptedperfect
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was conscriptingprogressive
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were conscriptingprogressive
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had been conscriptingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of conscript
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin conscrīptus “enrolled,” past participle of conscrībere “to enroll, enlist”; see conscribe ( def. )
Explanation
If you’re ever drafted into the army, then you could be called a conscript, someone who is forced to join the military. At the root of conscript is the Latin word conscriptus, meaning “enroll.” Conscript does involve enrollment — but it’s a forced enrollment, used to describe someone who has been forced to join the military, such as someone who has been drafted. As a verb, conscript means "force to join," like a military that conscripts new soldiers. In contrast, those who choose to join are recruited; when they enter the service, they enlist.
Vocabulary lists containing conscript
The American Civil War
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Ender's Game
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This Week in Words: January 27 - February 2, 2018
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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:
Trudging through snow, a young Finnish conscript carefully draws a thin blue wire between two pine trees.
From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026
The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country.
From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024
Dr Louré's recruitment into the VDP came last September, about five months after the junta passed a decree, giving it sweeping powers to conscript anyone above the age of 18 to fight the jihadists.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2024
Unfortunately, it cannot temporarily conscript public roads as the also fading auto racing industry can do.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2023
“I told him you are my brother. He said he will make sure nobody comes here to conscript you.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We joined a training session for Denmark’s conscripts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The army has been blighted by several scandals -- particularly over an unpopular mobilisation drive, the treatment of conscripts and reports of widespread absenteeism and equipment shortages in some units.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
They serve in a unique militia system in which army conscripts do at least four months' service before being called up repeatedly over a decade for weeks-long refresher sessions.
From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026
And the pressure felt by Israeli conscripts and reservists over the past two years has thrown a spotlight on those who do not serve.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
Learning happens on backless benches, at wooden tables grooved by the boredom of countless boys before them—squires, monks, conscripts, cadets.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Once conscripted, the pressure to sign a fully-fledged army contract often starts within days.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
"Then I heard they're not just present but one of the playable protagonists? And not even special forces, handled from the perspective of an ordinary conscripted soldier, that's what gets me."
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
It’s a more straightforward presentation that keeps audience members in their seats, except for a moment when uprising is in the air and a few theatergoers are conscripted to join the ecstatic rebellion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
As a former career waiter, I say without hesitation that I would not want to go to war with a battalion of conscripted foodies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026
After Prince Sihanouk’s government fell in 1970, he was conscripted into the new government of Lon Nol.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
As a Christian minister of an American Baptist congregation, I’ve spent more than 20 years in a pulpit — long enough to know the difference between protecting a church and conscripting one.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Temporary arrangements to continue it were formally ended by the court last year, forcing the government to begin conscripting the community.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
On November 19, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the government was required to present an effective proposal for conscripting the ultra-Orthodox.
From Barron's ● Nov. 29, 2025
At the same time, Russia was fortifying its defensive lines, converting its economy to war production, conscripting hundreds of thousands of fighters and adjusting its strategy for renewed offensives this winter.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2024
“If it has come to this, that you are conscripting somebody my age, then Biafra has died,” the elderly man said quietly.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
