impel
Americanverb
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to urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate
-
to push, drive, or force into motion
Synonym Usage
See compel.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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impelsimple
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impelssimple
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have impelledperfect
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has impelledperfect
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am impellingprogressive
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are impellingprogressive
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is impellingprogressive
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have been impellingperfect progressive
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has been impellingperfect progressive
Past
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impelledsimple
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had impelledperfect
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was impellingprogressive
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were impellingprogressive
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had been impellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of impel
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English impellen, from Latin impellere “to strike against, set in motion,” from im- im- 1 + pellere “to strike, move”; cf. pulse 1
Explanation
Impel means to force to move forward. A person sleep walking might move as if impelled by a force beyond their control. Loneliness might impel you to talk to someone you don't know. Impel derives from the Latin in- "toward" + pellere "to drive," which also brings us compel "to force" and propel "to drive forward." The boy was propelled by his fears, but when he said fear of bullies impelled him to stay home on Halloween, his mother compelled him to dress and go outside.
Vocabulary lists containing impel
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Mahatma Gandhi's "Quit India" Speech
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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:
John Bulkeley, the Wager’s gunner, a weapons expert and “instinctive leader” whose Bible-inspired narrative gifts would impel him to write an indelible account of events.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2023
The letter, which confirms the breadth of opposition to the postponement of “Philip Guston Now,” should be enough to impel the four museums to reinstate the show.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2020
A fasting that can make us hunger and thirst for justice and impel us to walk in the truth, supporting all the judicial measures that may be necessary.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2018
And that, hopefully, will impel elected officials and candidates to change their approaches to fiscal matters.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 13, 2018
He saw enough in her face to impel him to take her hand and hold it while he said his lingering good night “Will you go to the races again?” he asked.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
First, beauty impels us to pay a certain kind of attention.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2023
Instead, she approaches the exercises to test her fitness with a guilelessness that at first confounds him — but that ultimately impels him to confront his own tumultuous existence.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2021
The inspiration gained from that view might carry us well beyond the statistical forecast that impels the fatalistic alternative.
From Scientific American ● May 12, 2021
As for Judith Light, who receives star billing, my belief in truth in advertising impels me to tell you that her scenery-chewing turn begins only after we’ve settled back into our seats after intermission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2017
These are truisms, I admit, my young friends, yet the spirit of the age impels their iteration and re-iteration!
From The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion or, Familiar Letters to his Nephews by Lunettes, Henry
A sense of duty, rooted for many in a profound Christian faith, impelled each to take extraordinary risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
What impelled him, and what does it mean?
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2025
Harris, a friend and champion of Arbery’s, was behind an online presentation of “Heroes,” and it’s easy to see what impelled him to take a producing interest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
The engineer said he felt impelled to speak out and provide the internal documents because “the safety of the public outweighs the inconvenience to the airlines to make money.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
Even before Strauss’s appointment was made public, he began moving against Oppenheimer, impelled by the physicist’s increasingly outspoken campaign for a public debate on nuclear policy.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
One of the pleasures of writing for me is to discover what is it that is impelling me to engage with these characters.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2022
“Get at Me Dog” is an impelling and incendiary piece of music, like four minutes of a bomb going off.
From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2021
In a flash, rain poured and wind whipped at once, blowing trash onto the field and impelling a rapid response from the grounds crew.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2019
What is impelling the transformation is that the headquarters, constructed under the 1968 building code, do not meet current life-safety and other requirements.
From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2015
He was excited and something was impelling him to become more excited.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
