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
Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Parks' arrest, however, compelled her to want to do more.
—Time, 6 Nov. 2025
Bose said he was compelled by the opportunity to join Asana because of its progress in adding genAI and large-language model (LLM) capabilities to the product and the growth of non-human entities seeking access through Okta.
—Aman Kidwai, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
These realities have compelled Dowd to reflect more deeply on her own aging.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 5 Nov. 2025
In a new interview, Sweeney said she was not compelled to release a statement of her own amid the backlash.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025
Lawsuits from 25 states, including Wisconsin, compelled the administration to release the contingency funds.
—Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 3 Nov. 2025
North Korea simply may no longer feel strongly compelled to say yes.
—Will Ripley, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
The film, which screenwriter Rowan Joffé adapted from a 2014 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne, seems aware of the orientalist mustiness of this premise without being compelled to subvert it in any meaningful way.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
He was extradited to Pennsylvania for questioning and when he was compelled to testify before a grand jury, Schrader invoked his Fifth Amendment right when asked about Carol Ann Dougherty's murder.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Parks' arrest, however, compelled her to want to do more.
—Time, 6 Nov. 2025
Bose said he was compelled by the opportunity to join Asana because of its progress in adding genAI and large-language model (LLM) capabilities to the product and the growth of non-human entities seeking access through Okta.
—Aman Kidwai, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
These realities have compelled Dowd to reflect more deeply on her own aging.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 5 Nov. 2025
In a new interview, Sweeney said she was not compelled to release a statement of her own amid the backlash.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025
Lawsuits from 25 states, including Wisconsin, compelled the administration to release the contingency funds.
—Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 3 Nov. 2025
North Korea simply may no longer feel strongly compelled to say yes.
—Will Ripley, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
The film, which screenwriter Rowan Joffé adapted from a 2014 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne, seems aware of the orientalist mustiness of this premise without being compelled to subvert it in any meaningful way.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compelled
Adjective
-
Now, a federal indictment charges Peña Lopez and Correa Peña with forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor, according to prosecutors.—
Julia Marnin,
Miami Herald,
22 Oct. 2025
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Avoid sharp or forced motions, and keep good posture to prevent injury.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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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
Adjective
-
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
-
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
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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,
6 Nov. 2025
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Evers cannot tap unspent federal funding from pandemic aid laws because all of that money has been obligated to other recipients, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.—
Molly Beck,
jsonline.com,
4 Nov. 2025
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 22 Nov. 2025.
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