coercive
adjective
co·er·cive
kō-ˈər-siv 
: serving or intended to coerce
coercive power
coercive measures
coercively
adverb
coerciveness
noun
Examples of coercive in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Existing agricultural trade agreements do not prevent the use of export restrictions as coercive tools.
—
Zach Helder, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2024
Fletcher told the justices the government may not use coercive threats to suppress speech, but can inform, persuade and criticize private speakers.
—Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2024
Eyewitnesses detailed a range of coercive methods employed by the RSF to compel individuals to join their ranks, including intimidation, torture, summary execution and the withholding of food and medical aid.
—Pallabi Munsi, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024
David Greene, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the most likely outcome is that the court will issue a new test to assess whether the government was, in fact, coercive against social platforms, and pass the case back down to a lower court to rule on again.
—Vittoria Elliott, WIRED, 18 Mar. 2024
Imperioli is appropriately slimy as the coercive Peter, while Thomas Jay Ryan is sensational as the self-serving Aslaksen, a publisher and businessman who’s content to keep his head down.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, her mother, caught between her coercive uncle and a murky legal system, is oblivious to her daughter’s deteriorating mental state.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024
To meet quotas, authorities also use coercive methods such as conducting raids on factories, dormitories, and even restaurants looking for men to enlist, and pressuring immigrants and inmates.
—Dara Massicot, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2024
At the same time, Russia’s coercive apparatus went after Mr. Navalny with an increasing ferocity, poisoning him with a nerve agent in 2020, imprisoning him in inhumane conditions and ultimately sending him to a remote former gulag facility above the Arctic Circle.
—Oleg Matsnev, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2024
Zach Helder, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2024
Fletcher told the justices the government may not use coercive threats to suppress speech, but can inform, persuade and criticize private speakers.
—Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2024
Eyewitnesses detailed a range of coercive methods employed by the RSF to compel individuals to join their ranks, including intimidation, torture, summary execution and the withholding of food and medical aid.
—Pallabi Munsi, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024
David Greene, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the most likely outcome is that the court will issue a new test to assess whether the government was, in fact, coercive against social platforms, and pass the case back down to a lower court to rule on again.
—Vittoria Elliott, WIRED, 18 Mar. 2024
Imperioli is appropriately slimy as the coercive Peter, while Thomas Jay Ryan is sensational as the self-serving Aslaksen, a publisher and businessman who’s content to keep his head down.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, her mother, caught between her coercive uncle and a murky legal system, is oblivious to her daughter’s deteriorating mental state.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024
To meet quotas, authorities also use coercive methods such as conducting raids on factories, dormitories, and even restaurants looking for men to enlist, and pressuring immigrants and inmates.
—Dara Massicot, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2024
At the same time, Russia’s coercive apparatus went after Mr. Navalny with an increasing ferocity, poisoning him with a nerve agent in 2020, imprisoning him in inhumane conditions and ultimately sending him to a remote former gulag facility above the Arctic Circle.
—Oleg Matsnev, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coercive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near coercive
Cite this Entry
“Coercive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coercive. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
coercive
adjective
co·er·cive
kō-ˈər-siv
1
: serving or intended to coerce
2
: resulting from coercion
to protect women from coercive intimacy—Kimberle Crenshaw
Kimberle CrenshawLove words? Need even more definitions?
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