coerce
Americanverb (used with object)
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coerces,
present (3rd person singular)
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coerced,
past participle, past
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coercing
present participle
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to compel by force, intimidation, or authority, especially without regard for individual desire or volition.
They coerced him into signing the document.
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to bring about through the use of force or other forms of compulsion; exact.
to coerce obedience.
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to dominate or control, especially by exploiting fear, anxiety, etc..
The state is based on successfully coercing the individual.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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coercesimple
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coercessimple
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have coercedperfect
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has coercedperfect
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am coercingprogressive
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are coercingprogressive
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is coercingprogressive
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have been coercingperfect progressive
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has been coercingperfect progressive
Past
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coercedsimple
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had coercedperfect
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was coercingprogressive
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were coercingprogressive
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had been coercingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of coerce
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin coercēre “to hold in, restrain,” equivalent to co- co- + -ercēre, combining form of arcēre “to keep in, keep away,” akin to arca ark
Explanation
You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can coerce — or pressure — someone to attend your office holiday party, but you can't make him have fun. If you're at a point where you feel like you need to coerce someone into doing something, it might be more civilized to just give up. To coerce is to manipulate, use aggressive arguments, pressure unfairly, or threaten — really, this isn't very civilized behavior, is it? Handy synonyms for this verb include force and pressure. In a gangster film, you might hear a character say he "put the squeeze" on someone — another way of saying he coerced them.
Vocabulary lists containing coerce
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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:
Vullo, in which the court held that the government cannot use informal tactics, like thinly-veiled threats of selective enforcement or demands for cooperation, to coerce private actors.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
"The approach now is to try and befriend people, rather than coerce them."
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
"If he were to adopt an unfriendly stance -- demanding concessions from China or attempting to coerce us into doing things we are unwilling to do, we would strike back with force," Wen told AFP.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
It would be just as unethical for a therapist to use treatment to pressure someone into being LGBTQ+ as it is to use treatment to coerce someone out of being such an identity.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2026
Part of me wants to take her by the shoulders and beg her for help, but I can't coerce her into doing this.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
“We’re both familiar with what can happen and what has happened, when the state coerces people and restricts fundamental human rights, on a very personal level,” Howald said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
Regulators also say Amazon coerces sellers into signing up for FBA in order to reach customers on the Amazon store.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2023
Lawsuits also say the program unconstitutionally coerces drugmakers into selling their products at inadequate prices.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 30, 2023
Just do not be surprised when your sister-in-law ignores any handwritten invitations and coerces you into sending text reminders anyway.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2023
She slips away, and I grit my teeth as Grandfather coerces me into a stilted discussion with the governor.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
In 2005, the California government formally apologized for these forced removals, recognizing they were “fundamental violations of … basic civil liberties and constitutional rights” during a period “of illegal deportation and coerced emigration.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Interviewing prisoners of war is not straightforward: to be sure they are not being coerced, first and foremost, and then to assess how openly they are speaking in the circumstances.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The scandal saw the mothers, including many who were teenagers, coerced into giving up their children, with social, institutional and family pressures used to persuade them that adoption was their only option.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
The patients I know who contributed to the hospital to “honor” their doctor were certainly not coerced.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Week after week, aided or coerced by their parents, they came, and week after week Milton Stephanides excused himself to go up to his bedroom and play his clarinet out the window.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Judges Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin said the sanctions were designed to exert extrajudicial pressure with the objective of punishing and coercing the judges.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
“Detaining people and not giving them the chance to get out of detention is a way of coercing people to give up their claims.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2026
While preparing for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao is suing a restaurant server and his lawyers for “inflicting reputational damage and coercing payment.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
Just a month earlier, however, the court unanimously reaffirmed that the First Amendment forbids the government from coercing companies into suppressing expression.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2025
He made a public confession of his part in the attempted fraud, and charged Corrigan with coercing him.
From 'Firebrand' Trevison by P. V. E. (Percy Van Eman) Ivory
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.
