How to Use compel in a Sentence

compel

verb

• Illness compelled him to stay in bed.
• We took steps to compel their cooperation.
• Those are things that still compel me.
  — Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 10 Oct. 2025
• Or rather, he would be compelled to rest more.
  — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
• Yet the Gospel compels us to do just that.
  — William E. Lori, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2026
• You won’t be compelled to race anyone, or to gun it.
  — Josh Max, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
• Her hosts felt compelled to confess their grief and fury.
  — David Remnick, New Yorker, 17 June 2026
• And that’s what compels you to just keep watching.
  — Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 1 Mar. 2026
• What compelled you to want to be more cognizant of styling?
  — Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2025
• Like, what compels a man to turn his headwear away from his face?
  — Candace Buckner, Washington Post, 20 June 2024
• They can be compelled to give statements, but they can’t be used against them in any way.
  — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 10 Mar. 2025
• Everyone knew the words and felt compelled to join in on the fun.
  — Ben Crandell, sun-sentinel.com, 16 Nov. 2019
• That compelled her to throw her hat into the ring against Knight.
  — Jeffrey Mervis, Science | AAAS, 15 June 2018
• The film is less compelled to explain how that genius worked.
  — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2026
• Will the president compel them to come back and sort this out?
  — CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
• Like Stein, the loss compelled her to find answers.
  — Natalie Eilbert, jsonline.com, 5 Sep. 2025
• As a viewer in the moment, the speech compelled me.
  — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 7 Jan. 2026
• As a survivor, these are the stories that compel me.
  — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 4 June 2026
• For the non-car people, they will be compelled by the back story.
  — Charles Fleming, latimes.com, 27 Apr. 2018
• So what compelled him to rise to the occasion?
  — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 18 Dec. 2025
• Or were you compelled to play him from the beginning?
  — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Sep. 2025
• Both are compelled by a strange force beyond their control.
  — ABC News, 3 June 2026
• The older players see it and have to be compelled to stay on top of their games.
  — Susan Miller Degnan, miamiherald, 5 Nov. 2017
• French Montana felt compelled to step in.
  — Kelsie Hoffman, CBS News, 18 June 2026
• What compelled you to write this memoir in essays?
  — Literary Hub, 21 Apr. 2026
• When the elite fail to lead, grassroots movements must compel them to do so.
  — Paul Laudicina, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2022
• Could the court compel the moose to become squinty-eyed and grumpy?
  — Roger Dooley, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
• However, there’s no way to compel states to do so, and not all have caught up.
  — Kavitha Surana, ProPublica, 18 Dec. 2024
• Gavin said he felt compelled to act rather than watch events unfold from the sidelines.
  — Joe Van Ryn, CBS News, 15 Jan. 2026
• Some even felt compelled to try the handshake themselves.
  — Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025