as in unwilling
not made or done willingly or by choice
coerced participation that couldn't last
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in forced
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
was coerced into signing the document
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Recent Examples of coerced
Shahrzad Rasekh, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026
The third would allow survivors of coerced debt to formally challenge such obligations with a creditor, and the last would create a program to help survivors get home security to protect themselves from future harm.
—Lauren Linder, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026
And despite widespread reporting about coerced conscription in Russia, Ukraine has engaged in the same practice, with some new recruits sent to the front without adequate training.
—Olivier Kempf, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Arcangela Tarabotti, a seventeenth-century Venetian nun who was put into a convent against her will, wrote a critique of coerced enclosure that begins by eviscerating the idea that men are by nature superior to women.
—Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
Deradicalization is equally vital—not as a coerced reeducation, but as part of a healing process that encompasses Israelis as well as Palestinians.
—Samer Sinijlawi, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2025
Prosecutors retried one of the men, John Kogut – who had made a coerced confession to the murder – but he was acquitted.
—Lauren Del Valle, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2025
The coerced confession sparked a series of events that would derail the lives of Springsteen and Michael Scott, who were both wrongly convicted and imprisoned for the yogurt shop murders.
—Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American Statesman, 5 Oct. 2025
Winters writes that this initial system of coerced labor didn’t go very well for the elites.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 7 Aug. 2025
Drew Pittock, USA Today, 4 May 2026
At the same time, they were aggressively promoted — and sometimes coerced — among socially and economically disadvantaged people, often in the name of preventing poverty.
—Sonya Borrero, STAT, 1 May 2026
But some were also deceived or coerced.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
In the case against Roy Blackmon, two witnesses later testified their statements were coerced.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026
The Cascio family's lawyer Mark Geragos claimed to PEOPLE that the siblings felt coerced into the agreement.
—Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
Warsh also minimized the president’s threats against the central bank, asserting that the Fed isn’t actually in any immediate danger of being coerced.
—Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2026
Over the course of the last year, the Forest Service forced or coerced roughly a quarter of its approximately 30,000 employees to leave.
—Tracy Stone-Manning, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026
My old company, Whitewater Films, hired me to write a sports comedy — Puckheads — about an aging minor league hockey enforcer who gets coerced into playing for a cartel in Mexico City.
—Nick Morton, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
Russia has targeted the children through coerced adoption and family separation, forcing them to speak the Russian language and take on its cultural identity and customs — what’s known as Russification.
—Shahrzad Rasekh, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026
The third would allow survivors of coerced debt to formally challenge such obligations with a creditor, and the last would create a program to help survivors get home security to protect themselves from future harm.
—Lauren Linder, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026
And despite widespread reporting about coerced conscription in Russia, Ukraine has engaged in the same practice, with some new recruits sent to the front without adequate training.
—Olivier Kempf, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Arcangela Tarabotti, a seventeenth-century Venetian nun who was put into a convent against her will, wrote a critique of coerced enclosure that begins by eviscerating the idea that men are by nature superior to women.
—Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
Deradicalization is equally vital—not as a coerced reeducation, but as part of a healing process that encompasses Israelis as well as Palestinians.
—Samer Sinijlawi, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2025
Prosecutors retried one of the men, John Kogut – who had made a coerced confession to the murder – but he was acquitted.
—Lauren Del Valle, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2025
The coerced confession sparked a series of events that would derail the lives of Springsteen and Michael Scott, who were both wrongly convicted and imprisoned for the yogurt shop murders.
—Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American Statesman, 5 Oct. 2025
Winters writes that this initial system of coerced labor didn’t go very well for the elites.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 7 Aug. 2025
Verb
Without that market competition, the plaintiffs argued, gamers were coerced into paying higher prices, effectively allowing Sony to monopolize the sale of its digital PlayStation games.
—Drew Pittock, USA Today, 4 May 2026
At the same time, they were aggressively promoted — and sometimes coerced — among socially and economically disadvantaged people, often in the name of preventing poverty.
—Sonya Borrero, STAT, 1 May 2026
But some were also deceived or coerced.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
In the case against Roy Blackmon, two witnesses later testified their statements were coerced.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026
The Cascio family's lawyer Mark Geragos claimed to PEOPLE that the siblings felt coerced into the agreement.
—Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
Warsh also minimized the president’s threats against the central bank, asserting that the Fed isn’t actually in any immediate danger of being coerced.
—Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2026
Over the course of the last year, the Forest Service forced or coerced roughly a quarter of its approximately 30,000 employees to leave.
—Tracy Stone-Manning, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026
My old company, Whitewater Films, hired me to write a sports comedy — Puckheads — about an aging minor league hockey enforcer who gets coerced into playing for a cartel in Mexico City.
—Nick Morton, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coerced
Adjective
-
The union also claims that BP repeatedly indicated that the company was unwilling to move on any part of its proposals.—
Maya Wilkins,
Chicago Tribune,
13 May 2026
-
Musk only wanted control in the early days, but was unwilling to sign a contract formalizing it, Altman said.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
In the end, Erik Heil and the Germans closed to within a boat length at the final turning mark, and Botin was forced to execute a high-pressure tack to stay ahead and claim second.—
Andrew Rice,
New York Times,
11 May 2026
-
Under the map, Cleaver would be forced to campaign in a district that stretches east from Troost Avenue to the rural cities and towns spread across central Missouri.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
10 May 2026
Adjective
-
November 22 – December 21 A spontaneous move at home could create more freedom than expected today.—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 May 2026
-
Sagittarius November 22 – December 21 A spontaneous move at home could create more freedom than expected today.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
Starmer is not compelled to call another general election until 2029, when his term expires.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
7 May 2026
-
Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, felt compelled to respond in remarkable terms.—
Ella Lee,
The Hill,
6 May 2026
Adjective
-
The sturdy, durable case offers a water-resistant fabric, which is great for accidental coffee spills amid the airport security line.—
Sarah DiMuro,
PEOPLE,
14 May 2026
-
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office attributed his death to an accidental ketamine overdose and said drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine — used to treat opioid use disorder — were factors.—
Dennis Romero,
NBC news,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
Ticketmaster’s worst enemy obliged.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
6 May 2026
-
Of course, Brown obliged the crowd’s request for second-year point guard Tyler Kolek.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
5 May 2026
Verb
-
Judges are obligated to give high deference to arbitrators and are expected to uphold awards so long as the award was not procured by fraud and the arbitrator didn’t fail to consider relevant evidence or follow basic legal principles.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
12 May 2026
-
Whatever that amount is, the BPU will be obligated to take at least half of it to put toward low income residents’ bill relief.—
Sofi Zeman
May 12,
Kansas City Star,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Coerced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coerced. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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