as in pressure
the use of power to impose one's will on another
in that class I read books under compulsion that I ordinarily wouldn't have considered
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of compulsion
In the nineteen-seventies, hospice care evolved as more people resisted the compulsion to extend life at all costs, preferring instead to focus on dying comfortably, often at home.
—
Sunita Puri,
New Yorker,
6 June 2026
Writers write from compulsion, from necessity.
—
Walt Hunter,
The Atlantic,
4 June 2026
For me, one of these compulsions ended up being using the tracking app.
—
Sara Rowe Mount,
Parents,
22 May 2026
In a clinical setting, mental health experts call such actions compulsions – behaviors that feel impossible to resist – are fueled by obsessive thoughts and eventually begin to interfere with a person’s ability to lead a normal, healthy life.
—
Jordyn Tovey,
The Conversation,
22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Sunita Puri,
New Yorker,
6 June 2026
Writers write from compulsion, from necessity.
—
Walt Hunter,
The Atlantic,
4 June 2026
For me, one of these compulsions ended up being using the tracking app.
—
Sara Rowe Mount,
Parents,
22 May 2026
In a clinical setting, mental health experts call such actions compulsions – behaviors that feel impossible to resist – are fueled by obsessive thoughts and eventually begin to interfere with a person’s ability to lead a normal, healthy life.
—
Jordyn Tovey,
The Conversation,
22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compulsion
Noun
-
These episodes have been triggered by intense heat domes — stubborn areas of high pressure that lock hot air in place — and are clearly supercharged by global warming, experts say.
-
Even as the communist country proposes reforms, the United States continues a pressure campaign, ramping up economic sanctions and maintaining an oil embargo that has plunged much of the island into darkness.
Noun
-
Her colleague Maria Amato adds a harder constraint — the most effective leadership development happens on the job, inside the relationships management layers exist to create.
-
How supply chains are slowing defense production S&P Global Ratings found the same constraint.
Noun
-
House Bill 582, known as the Survivor Justice Act, allows courts to consider reduced sentences for victims of domestic violence or human trafficking who committed crimes under coercion.
-
Equality without liberty can become coercion in the name of fairness.
Noun
-
The 16-count indictment against Republican Liz Murrill, handed up Thursday by a New Orleans grand jury, charges Louisiana’s first female attorney general with intimidation and malfeasance.
-
The 16-count indictment handed up Thursday by a New Orleans grand jury accused Murrill, the state's first female attorney general, with intimidation and malfeasance.
Noun
-
Was remembers the tumult, violence and hope that came out of that era in his hometown of Detroit.
-
But the comments from Raia provide the clearest public indication yet that the FBI's Joint Mission Center, established earlier this year to coordinate the bureau's response to domestic political violence, is producing tangible investigative results.
Cite this Entry
“Compulsion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compulsion. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
