1
: compelled by force or necessity : involuntary
a forced landing
2
: done or produced with effort, exertion, or pressure
a forced laugh
forcedly adverb

Example Sentences

forced payment of membership dues wasn't thrilled with the suggestion and so responded with a forced smile
Recent Examples on the Web The 6-foot-3, 300-pound junior had 16 solo tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles last season, and another three sacks the season before on a defense from which practically every rotational player found his way into the NFL. Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press, 21 Mar. 2023 The Franks had no idea that the Gieses were also sheltering Kuno van der Horst, a young man whose refusal to declare his loyalty to the Nazis meant he could be sent to Germany as a forced laborer. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 May 2023 Even before Arab normalization with the Assad regime began, human rights organizations had repeatedly warned that Syrian refugees risked facing forced returns home amid concerns for their safety. Cnn Staff, CNN, 10 May 2023 Though its urgency is apt, there’s something of a forced, stock procedural-TV thriller tenor to Clement Tery’s original score. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 5 May 2023 The film’s dialectic qualities can feel a little forced and wooden, though Ritch mitigates this somewhat by directing his cast to deliver their lines at such a snappy clip that viewers don’t have time to dwell on the clunkers. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2023 Editor’s Note: On PlayStation 5, our pre-release version of the game experienced technical issues with texture pop-in, dropped frame rates, and most crucially game breaking crashes in the final act that could only be fixed by forced reinstall. Joshua Khan, Rolling Stone, 26 Apr. 2023 An entire community of men, women, and children in Edgefield, shackled in servitude, marked their existence with the product of forced labor. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2023 As a sophomore linebacker at McKinney, Frazier had 75 tackles, five sacks and six forced fumbles. Ndaschel, oregonlive, 26 Jan. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'forced.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1537, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of forced was circa 1537

Dictionary Entries Near forced

Cite this Entry

“Forced.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forced. Accessed 29 May. 2023.

Kids Definition

forced

adjective
ˈfō(ə)rst How to pronounce forced (audio)
ˈfȯ(ə)rst
1
: caused or brought about by force or necessity : involuntary
made a forced landing
2
: done or produced with effort
a forced laugh

More from Merriam-Webster on forced

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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