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Synonym Chooser

How is the word coerce different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of coerce are compel, constrain, force, and oblige. While all these words mean "to make someone or something yield," coerce suggests overcoming resistance or unwillingness by actual or threatened violence or pressure.

coerced into signing over the rights

When would compel be a good substitute for coerce?

The meanings of compel and coerce largely overlap; however, compel typically suggests overcoming of resistance or unwillingness by an irresistible force.

compelled to admit my mistake

When is it sensible to use constrain instead of coerce?

The words constrain and coerce can be used in similar contexts, but constrain suggests the effect of a force or circumstance that limits freedom of action or choice.

constrained by conscience

In what contexts can force take the place of coerce?

While in some cases nearly identical to coerce, force is the general term and implies the overcoming of resistance by the exertion of strength, power, or duress.

forced to flee for their lives

When might oblige be a better fit than coerce?

While the synonyms oblige and coerce are close in meaning, oblige implies the constraint of necessity, law, or duty.

felt obliged to go

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of coerce This is the real danger for the NBA—players who get coerced into trying to rig games. Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 28 Oct. 2025 The retail giant agreed to the settlement to resolve an antitrust lawsuit filed by the FTC in 2023, in which federal officials alleged that Amazon coerced millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime subscriptions and then made those agreements extremely difficult to cancel. Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 23 Oct. 2025 In one recent case, a 22-year-old man used Discord to prey on victims as young as 12 years old, coercing them into creating explicit content. Alex Vance, Parents, 21 Oct. 2025 Employers would be prohibited from pressuring or coercing anyone into signing such a waiver. Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for coerce
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coerce
Verb
  • Necessity compelled us to use it.
    Judith Martin, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
  • For that reason, too, the Grammy winner was compelled to furnish it primarily in one brand, RH, so that every bit of white oak would be the same.
    Kathryn Romeyn, Architectural Digest, 7 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • His rule finally came to an end in 1998 after the Asian financial crisis threw the country into economic turmoil, prompting widespread protests and forcing Suharto to resign – one of the last people power movements to sweep Southeast Asia and replace a Cold War-era autocrat with democracy.
    Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025
  • The last of those darts was fired (initially on X) by Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who is a resistance darling of the moment after forcing through new, Democrat-friendly congressional maps in his state last week.
    Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • This is the level of cuts in CAP water that Arizona originally proposed to take under most hydrological circumstances after 2027, unless farmers in western Arizona agree to take some of the burden off the CAP — which they are not obligated to do.
    Austin Corona, AZCentral.com, 10 Nov. 2025
  • But also, a village implies a loose, reciprocal network of people who want to help one another, not an employee who is obligated to work for an employer at certain times.
    Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 7 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • These were gangsters, so they weren’t obliged to couch this any way but direct.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Shaw-naé pushed for an in-person appointment, and the doctor obliged.
    Mackenzie Cummings-Grady, Billboard, 5 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Coerce.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coerce. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on coerce

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