coercion

noun co·er·cion \ kō-ˈər-zhən , -shən \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Examples: coercion in a Sentence

Definition of coercion

: the act, process, or power of coercing

They used coercion to obtain the confession.

Examples of coercion in a Sentence

a promise obtained by coercion is never binding

Recent Examples of coercion from the Web

And as no officer ever admitted to any coercion, those detectives presumably committed hundreds of acts of perjury.

— maya dukmasova, Chicago Reader, "Archive Dive / Crime / Criminal Justice That time a Cook County judge ruled on the case of a man he himself put in prison when he was still a prosecutor," 25 May 2018
Regardless, one principle is unassailable: that you, as woman, have dominion over your physical self, free from coercion, pressure or influence related to your sexuality.

— caleb parke, Fox News, "Commencement speaker at all-women’s college blasted for criticizing #MeToo movement," 17 May 2018
Abolitionists had difficulty reconciling the perverse coercion the system induced.

— tera w. hunter, The Root, "Some Did Choose to Return to Slavery Because They Chose Family Over Everything," 15 May 2018
The questions are aimed at identifying whether someone is under the control of another person through force, fraud or coercion.

— kevin litten, NOLA.com, "Strip clubs would have to verify age of new hires, Louisiana House bill proposes," 27 Apr. 2018
In addition, many public sector workers are also protected from coercion by strict limits on permissible political activities in government agencies.

— alexander hertel-fernandez, Vox, "Employers are increasingly using their workers as lobbyists. Here’s why that’s a problem.," 29 Mar. 2018
Three big questions could affect whether European countries follow through with defying U.S. sanctions in an effort to save the Iran nuclear deal: 1) Will the U.S. use diplomacy or coercion to gain E.U. cooperation?

— bryan r. early, Washington Post, "E.U. countries want to save the Iran nuclear deal. Don’t expect cooperation on U.S. sanctions.," 25 May 2018
Beyond the law, Philadelphia’s coercion hurts the city’s most vulnerable children and the families who want to care for them.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Suffer the Little Children," 22 May 2018
If diplomatic and economic coercion strategies fail, Trump has boxed himself into the binary choice of being judged to having engaged in hollow rhetoric or carrying out military strikes.

— michael krepon, Vox, "Trump has put the US on a path to bombing Iran," 9 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coercion.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of coercion

Middle English cohercion, borrowed from Anglo-French cohercioun, borrowed from Late Latin coerctiōn-, coerctiō, by-form of Latin coercitiōn-, coercitiō, from coerci-, variant stem of coercēre "to coerce" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

coercion Synonyms

Law Dictionary

coercion

noun co·er·cion \ kō-ˈər-zhən, -shən \

legal Definition of coercion

: the use of express or implied threats of violence or reprisal (as discharge from employment) or other intimidating behavior that puts a person in immediate fear of the consequences in order to compel that person to act against his or her will; also : the defense that one acted under coercion — see also defense, duress — compare undue influence