coercive
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of coercive
Explanation
If you use coercive measures to get people to join your club, it means that you intimidate or force people to make them feel like they have to join. If you use threats to get what you want from other people, your methods can be described as coercive. It can take nothing more than a strong sense of authority to come across as coercive, or the intimidation can take the form of physical threats. When you're coercive, you're demanding obedience without much concern for what the people you coerce need or want. The Latin root is coercere, which means "to control or restrain."
Vocabulary lists containing coercive
Grendel
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Content Summary 1.3: Origins of Complex Urban Societies in the Ancient World
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Content Summary 3.7: Postclassical Americas
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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.
The remarks were indicative of his foreign-policy strategy of coercive diplomacy - threatening overwhelming force while keeping negotiations open.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Liu Chang, a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., said that Min Zin has been subject to “criminal coercive measures,” which means he is under investigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
That must include steps to end the use of any "coercive measure to divert the natural movement of the elephants", it read.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
This is happening despite the Supreme Court directing authorities not to take coercive action against those protesters who are facing charges but have no prior criminal record.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Franklin’s ancestors may have emigrated from Europe to escape oppressive rules, but colonial societies were still vastly more coercive and class- ridden than indigenous villages.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
