force majeure

noun force ma·jeure \ ˌfȯrs-mä-ˈzhər , -mə- \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of force majeure

1 : superior or irresistible force

2 : an event or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled — compare act of god

force majeure was our Word of the Day on 04/25/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of force majeure from the Web

Finally, a pipeline issue in Nigeria forced Shell’s local subsidiary on Wednesday to declare force majeure—a clause that allows contractual shipments to be suspended—on 250,000 barrels a day of production.

— spencer jakab, WSJ, "Small Outages Have Big Impact on Oil Prices," 21 May 2018
Exporters have started to declare force majeure on soybean cargoes.

— fabiana batista, Bloomberg.com, "Brazil Working Around Strike But Fuel, Food Is Still Scarce," 26 May 2018
But with 0-100 mph acceleration in 8.8 seconds and a top speed, top-down, of 187 mph, the V8-powered Volante has plenty of force majeure, Major.

— dan neil, WSJ, "2019 Aston Martin DB11 Volante: A Six-Figure Car That’s Worth Every Penny," 26 Apr. 2018
An insider told The Hollywood Reporter that the crew received force majeure letters on Friday.

— emma stefansky, HWD, "Fox Halts Production on Queen Biopic Bohemian Rhapsody Due to Bryan Singer’s “Health Matter”," 2 Dec. 2017
The outage, which gave a boost to prices, was the first time a force majeure had been declared in the North Sea since 1988.

— bloomberg news, NOLA.com, "Oil's bull run wavers as investors wait to see what 2018 holds," 26 Dec. 2017
Instead of paying up, the New York real estate mogul countersued, claiming the 2008 crash was a force majeure event—one that Deutsche had helped precipitate.

— luke harding, Newsweek, "Is Donald Trump’s Dark Russian Secret Hiding in Deutsche Bank’s Vaults?," 21 Dec. 2017
Just days ago, the Forties pipeline cracked and shut down, and the pipeline’s operator declared force majeure on oil shipments.

— nick cunningham, USA TODAY, "Oil industry forecast: Oil price factors to watch in 2018," 19 Dec. 2017
Vans Old Skools and Common Projects Achilles helped usher in the minimal low-top silhouettes as a stylish force majeure.

— tyler watamanuk, GQ, "Larry David's Sneakers Are the Next Wave of the Ugly Sneaker Trend," 1 Oct. 2017

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

Did You Know?

Force majeure translates literally from French as superior force. In English, the term is often used in line with its literal French meaning, but it has other uses as well, including one that has roots in a principle of French law. In business circles, "force majeure" describes those uncontrollable events (such as war, labor stoppages, or extreme weather) that are not the fault of any party and that make it difficult or impossible to carry out normal business. A company may insert a force majeure clause into a contract to absolve itself from liability in the event it cannot fulfill the terms of a contract (or if attempting to do so will result in loss or damage of goods) for reasons beyond its control.

Origin and Etymology of force majeure

French, superior force

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1883

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Law Dictionary

force majeure

noun force ma·jeure \ ˈfȯrs-ma-ˈzhər, -mȧ-ˈzhœ̅r \

legal Definition of force majeure

1 : superior or insuperable force

2 : an event (as war, labor strike, or extreme weather) or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled : fortuitous event — compare act of god, inevitable accident