peer pressure

American  

[peer presh-er] / ˈpɪər ˈprɛʃ ər /

noun

1. social pressure by members of one's peer group to take a certain action, adopt certain values, or otherwise conform in order to be accepted.

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peer pressure Cultural  

1. The social influence a peer group exerts on its individual members, as each member attempts to conform to the expectations of the group. (See conformity.)

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Example Sentences

Many of us were raised to sneer at social influence—instructed to resist peer pressure at all costs—but there’s another term for thinking about all this that’s less off-putting: role modeling.

From Slate • May 15, 2026

One of my mom group chats recently turned to strength training, and I copped to finally succumbing to peer pressure and buying weights on Amazon—5 pounders, to be exact.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

"It's some form of peer pressure," 24-year-old Haskell Austin tells the BBC.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has painted social media as "a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators".

From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025

And Old Ikwa, nearly blind and an easy victim to peer pressure, had ambled along behind.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer