as in forced
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as in obliged
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
public opinion compelled her to fire her scandal-plagued aide
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Recent Examples of compelled
Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 May 2026
Toohey said Lyons was compelled to invent the hatchway because the old wooden ones weren’t durable enough, and were difficult to maintain.
—Pamela McLoughlin, Hartford Courant, 14 May 2026
Nette’s support for Riggans compelled her to make the 15-hour drive from Texas to South Dakota for his graduation ceremony last weekend.
—Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 14 May 2026
That was another thing that we, in the writer’s room, were really compelled by in The Deal, which is, not only is Garrett living under the shadow of his dad, but also his dad is abusive, and Garrett doesn’t talk about it.
—Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 13 May 2026
Without a reliable American security umbrella, both countries could feel compelled to expand and develop their military deterrents.
—Yu Jie, Time, 13 May 2026
Capitalists would have to be compelled to respect workers.
—Literary Hub, 12 May 2026
For the French, the tricolor represents certain values that players on the national team feel compelled to publicly affirm.
—Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
The union filing says this accreditation form compelled workers to share information, including their social security number, nationality, current residential address and country of birth, which Petersen said has raised concerns.
—Adam Crafton, New York Times, 8 May 2026
Adjective
True personal data sovereignty requires systems that make compelled access technically impossible, not merely contractually discouraged.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
Verb
The powerful monetary incentives provided to our politicians and their PACs have compelled legislative compliance to their global agenda.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 May 2026
Toohey said Lyons was compelled to invent the hatchway because the old wooden ones weren’t durable enough, and were difficult to maintain.
—Pamela McLoughlin, Hartford Courant, 14 May 2026
Nette’s support for Riggans compelled her to make the 15-hour drive from Texas to South Dakota for his graduation ceremony last weekend.
—Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 14 May 2026
That was another thing that we, in the writer’s room, were really compelled by in The Deal, which is, not only is Garrett living under the shadow of his dad, but also his dad is abusive, and Garrett doesn’t talk about it.
—Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 13 May 2026
Without a reliable American security umbrella, both countries could feel compelled to expand and develop their military deterrents.
—Yu Jie, Time, 13 May 2026
Capitalists would have to be compelled to respect workers.
—Literary Hub, 12 May 2026
For the French, the tricolor represents certain values that players on the national team feel compelled to publicly affirm.
—Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
The union filing says this accreditation form compelled workers to share information, including their social security number, nationality, current residential address and country of birth, which Petersen said has raised concerns.
—Adam Crafton, New York Times, 8 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compelled
Adjective
-
Some of his jabs seemed a bit forced and stagy.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
-
In nearly every practical sense, these conditions mirror those faced by people in forced labor.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
15 Apr. 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
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
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
Adjective
-
Traffic stops represent the most common nonvoluntary interaction between citizens and police officers in the U.S.—
Derek Epp,
The Conversation,
3 Feb. 2023
-
Of the 59 CEOs who departed S&P 500 firms last year, 30.5% were let go on a nonvoluntary basis, up from 22.1% in 2017, according to the Conference Board's 2019 CEO Succession Practices report.—
Fortune,
Fortune,
6 Nov. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Compelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compelled. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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