as in pressure
the use of power to impose one's will on another
in that class I read books under compulsion that I ordinarily wouldn't have considered
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Recent Examples of compulsion
These obsessions lead you to do repetitive behaviors, also called compulsions.
—
Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 July 2025
Breaking the compulsion is easier said than done, but keeping a thick cuticle cream on hand can help.
—Lisa Desantis, Glamour, 18 July 2025
Tabo’s mother’s gnawing sense of guilt is fully parsed and inhabited, even as the murderous compulsion of her son is left untouched.
—Katie Kitamura, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The compulsion of doctors to write, then, may simply be an extension of the reason so many of us entered medicine—an implacable curiosity about how people tick.
—Danielle Ofri, New Yorker, 7 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 July 2025
Breaking the compulsion is easier said than done, but keeping a thick cuticle cream on hand can help.
—Lisa Desantis, Glamour, 18 July 2025
Tabo’s mother’s gnawing sense of guilt is fully parsed and inhabited, even as the murderous compulsion of her son is left untouched.
—Katie Kitamura, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The compulsion of doctors to write, then, may simply be an extension of the reason so many of us entered medicine—an implacable curiosity about how people tick.
—Danielle Ofri, New Yorker, 7 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compulsion
Noun
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Caleb Banks returns at defensive tackle after recording seven QB pressures in wins against LSU and Ole Miss.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
19 Aug. 2025
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The median period between symptom onset and death was just three days; most of the children who died had such severe brain swelling that the pressure forced the brain downward, crushing vital areas that control breathing and heart function.—
Katia Hetter,
CNN Money,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Budgeting For Reality Over 30% of IBM’s study respondents revealed that budgeting constraints were an obstacle in getting their projects from demo to market.—
Dr. Jason Corso,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
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Upon their return to the Capitol on Monday, House Speaker Dustin Burrows ordered constraints put on their movements.—
Jade Walker,
CNN Money,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Again and again, Europe’s response to the threat of Chinese economic coercion has been kneecapped by European companies desperate to maintain their access to Chinese markets.—
HENRY FARRELL,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
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International law prohibits the acquisition of part or all of another state’s territory through coercion or force.—
Miriam Sapiro,
Time,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence in 2007, court records show.—
Angie DiMichele,
Sun Sentinel,
19 Aug. 2025
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None appears to have gone toward violence prevention.—
Fred Clasen-Kelly,
NPR,
19 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Compulsion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compulsion. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
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