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definitions

forced

[fawrst, fohrst]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR forced ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

enforced or compulsory: forced labor.
strained, unnatural, or affected: a forced smile.
subjected to force.
required by circumstances; emergency: a forced landing of an airplane.

Origin of forced

First recorded in 1540–50; force + -ed2
Related formsforc·ed·ly [fawr-sid-lee, fohr-] /ˈfɔr sɪd li, ˈfoʊr-/, adverbforc·ed·ness, nounqua·si-forced, adjectiveun·forced, adjectiveun·forc·ed·ly, adverb

force

[fawrs, fohrs]

noun

physical power or strength possessed by a living being: He used all his force in opening the window.
strength or power exerted upon an object; physical coercion; violence: to use force to open the window; to use force on a person.
strength; energy; power; intensity: a personality of great force.
power to influence, affect, or control; efficacious power: the force of circumstances; a force for law and order.
Law. unlawful violence threatened or committed against persons or property.
persuasive power; power to convince: They felt the force of his arguments.
mental or moral strength: force of character.
might, as of a ruler or realm; strength for war.
Often forces. the military or fighting strength, especially of a nation.
any body of persons combined for joint action: a sales force.
intensity or strength of effect: the force of her acting.
Physics.
  1. an influence on a body or system, producing or tending to produce a change in movement or in shape or other effects.
  2. the intensity of such an influence. Symbol: F, f
any influence or agency analogous to physical force: social forces.
binding power, as of a contract.
Baseball. force play.
value; significance; meaning.
Billiards. a stroke in which the cue ball is forcibly struck directly below the center in such a manner as to cause it to stop abruptly, bound back, or roll off to one side after hitting the object ball.

verb (used with object), forced, forc·ing.

to compel, constrain, or oblige (oneself or someone) to do something: to force a suspect to confess.
to drive or propel against resistance: He forced his way through the crowd. They forced air into his lungs.
to bring about or effect by force.
to bring about of necessity or as a necessary result: to force a smile.
to put or impose (something or someone) forcibly on or upon a person: to force one's opinions on others.
to compel by force; overcome the resistance of: to force acceptance of something.
to obtain or draw forth by or as if by force; extort: to force a confession.
to enter or take by force; overpower: They forced the town after a long siege.
to break open (a door, lock, etc.).
to cause (plants, fruits, etc.) to grow or mature at an increased rate by artificial means.
to press, urge, or exert (an animal, person, etc.) to violent effort or to the utmost.
to use force upon.
to rape.
Baseball.
  1. to cause (a base runner) to be put out by obliging the runner, as by a ground ball, to vacate a base and attempt to move to the next base in order to make room for another runner or the batter.
  2. to cause (a base runner or run) to score, as by walking a batter with the bases full (often followed by in).
Cards.
  1. to compel (a player) to trump by leading a suit of which the player has no cards.
  2. to compel a player to play (a particular card).
  3. to compel (a player) to play so as to make known the strength of the hand.
Photography.
  1. to develop (a print or negative) for longer than usual in order to increase density or bring out details.
  2. to bring out underexposed parts of (a print or negative) by adding alkali to the developer.
Archaic. to give force to; strengthen; reinforce.

verb (used without object), forced, forc·ing.

to make one's way by force.

Idioms

    in force,
    1. in operation; effective: This ancient rule is no longer in force.
    2. in large numbers; at full strength: They attacked in force.

Origin of force

1250–1300; (noun) Middle English < Middle French < Vulgar Latin *fortia, derivative of Latin fortis strong; (v.) Middle English forcen < Anglo-French, Old French forcer, derivative of the noun
Related formsforce·a·ble, adjectiveforce·less, adjectiveforc·er, nounforc·ing·ly, adverbin·ter·force, nouno·ver·force, nouno·ver·force, verb, o·ver·forced, o·ver·forc·ing.un·force·a·ble, adjectiveun·forc·ing, adjective
Can be confusedcoerce compel constrain force oblige

Synonyms for force

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR force ON THESAURUS.COM
3. vigor. 4. compulsion, constraint. 6. efficacy, effectiveness, cogency, potency, validity. 18. coerce. 19. impel. 25. overcome; violate, ravish, rape.

Synonym study

3. See strength.

Antonyms for force

3. weakness. 6. impotence.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for forced

contrived, enforced, mandatory, involuntary, unwilling, compelled, affected, binding, bound, labored, slave, constrained, coerced, begrudging, grudging, conscripted, artificial, factitious, inflexible, insincere

Examples from the Web for forced

Contemporary Examples of forced

Historical Examples of forced

  • He forced himself to face them regularly as a penance and a corrective.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • He had entered into the path of dishonesty, and he was forced to keep on in it.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • He was forced to admit that the girl still had power to trouble him.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • They had forced the foreign immigrants to work in their factories.

    Ancient Man

    Hendrik Willem van Loon

  • The consonants were reproduced but the reader was forced to guess at the vowels.

    Ancient Man

    Hendrik Willem van Loon

British Dictionary definitions for forced

forced

adjective

done because of force; compulsoryforced labour
false or unnaturala forced smile
due to an emergency or necessitya forced landing
physics caused by an external agencya forced vibration; a forced draught
Derived Formsforcedly (ˈfɔːsɪdlɪ), adverbforcedness, noun

force

1

noun

strength or energy; might; powerthe force of the blow; a gale of great force
exertion or the use of exertion against a person or thing that resists; coercion
physics
  1. a dynamic influence that changes a body from a state of rest to one of motion or changes its rate of motion. The magnitude of the force is equal to the product of the mass of the body and its acceleration
  2. a static influence that produces an elastic strain in a body or system or bears weightSymbol: F
physics any operating influence that produces or tends to produce a change in a physical quantityelectromotive force; coercive force
  1. intellectual, social, political, or moral influence or strengththe force of his argument; the forces of evil
  2. a person or thing with such influencehe was a force in the land
vehemence or intensityhe spoke with great force
a group of persons organized for military or police functionsarmed forces
the force (sometimes capital) informal the police force
a group of persons organized for particular duties or tasksa workforce
criminal law violence unlawfully committed or threatened
philosophy logic that which an expression is normally used to achieveSee speech act, illocution, perlocution
in force
  1. (of a law) having legal validity or binding effect
  2. in great strength or numbers
join forces to combine strengths, efforts, etc

verb (tr)

to compel or cause (a person, group, etc) to do something through effort, superior strength, etc; coerce
to acquire, secure, or produce through effort, superior strength, etcto force a confession
to propel or drive despite resistanceto force a nail into wood
to break down or open (a lock, safe, door, etc)
to impose or inflicthe forced his views on them
to cause (plants or farm animals) to grow or fatten artificially at an increased rate
to strain or exert to the utmostto force the voice
to rape; ravish
cards
  1. to compel (a player) to trump in order to take a trick
  2. to compel a player by the lead of a particular suit to play (a certain card)
  3. (in bridge) to induce (a bid) from one's partner by bidding in a certain way
force a smile to make oneself smile
force down to compel an aircraft to land
force the pace to adopt a high speed or rate of procedure
Derived Formsforceable, adjectiveforceless, adjectiveforcer, nounforcingly, adverb

Word Origin for force

C13: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin fortia (unattested), from Latin fortis strong

force

2

noun

(in northern England) a waterfall

Word Origin for force

C17: from Old Norse fors
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 forced
adj.

"not spontaneous or voluntary," 1570s, past participle adjective from force (v.). The flier's forced landing attested by 1917.

force

n.

c.1300, "physical strength," from Old French force (12c.) "force, strength, courage, fortitude; violence, power, compulsion," from Vulgar Latin *fortia (cf. Spanish fuerza, Italian forza), noun use of neuter plural of Latin fortis "strong" (see fort). Meaning "body of armed men, army" first recorded late 14c. (also in Old French). Physics sense is from 1660s; force field attested by 1920.

force

v.

c.1300, from Old French forcier "conquer by violence," from force (see force (n.)). Its earliest sense in English was "to ravish" (a woman); sense of "to compel, oblige" to do something is from c.1400. Related: Forced; forcing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
forced in Medicine

force

[fôrs]

n.

The capacity to do work or cause physical change; energy, strength, or active power.
A vector quantity that tends to produce an acceleration of a body in the direction of its application.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
forced in Science

force

[fôrs]

Any of various factors that cause a body to change its speed, direction, or shape. Force is a vector quantity, having both magnitude and direction. Contributions of force from different sources can be summed to give the net force at any given point.
Any of the four natural phenomena involving the interaction between particles of matter. From the strongest to the weakest, the four forces are the strong nuclear force, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force, and gravity.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
forced in Culture

force

In physics, something that causes a change in the motion of an object. The modern definition of force (an object's mass multiplied by its acceleration) was given by Isaac Newton in Newton's laws of motion. The most familiar unit of force is the pound. (See mechanics.)

Note

Gravity, and therefore weight, is a kind of force.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with forced

force

In addition to the idioms beginning with force

  • force someone's hand
  • force to be reckoned with

also see:

  • brute force
  • driving force
  • in force
  • join forces
  • reckon with (force to be reckoned with)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.