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
The episodes will focus on the interview subject’s compulsion to create, an obsession for Mason who grew up with a stepfather who was a portrait artist.
—
Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
That last sentence springs straight from Melville’s first chapter — for him, and for Wilson, too, a schoolboy’s compulsion toward the sea is no different from an artist’s to make art.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 1 May 2026
Writing, on the other hand, is my lifeline—a compulsion, a joy, and sometimes agony.
—Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
Family photo For Strausman, like so many artists of all skill levels, creating became a compulsion of the spirit.
—Steve Hartman, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
That last sentence springs straight from Melville’s first chapter — for him, and for Wilson, too, a schoolboy’s compulsion toward the sea is no different from an artist’s to make art.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 1 May 2026
Writing, on the other hand, is my lifeline—a compulsion, a joy, and sometimes agony.
—Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
Family photo For Strausman, like so many artists of all skill levels, creating became a compulsion of the spirit.
—Steve Hartman, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for compulsion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compulsion
Noun
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But the way Vitinha performs in these fast, furious games — high pressure, high energy — is captivating.—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
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Under pressure, the government expanded access to the SIM cards to some professions during the shutdown.—
Amir-Hussein Radjy,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2026
Noun
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The space constraint, though, is forcing Lorden to boil and bake the bagels in a commissary kitchen.—
Max Scheinblum,
Denver Post,
26 May 2026
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Instead of evaluating materials only for laboratory performance, the team included processing and scalability constraints from the beginning of the design process.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
26 May 2026
Noun
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But the history of sterilization is also deeply entangled with coercion in the form of racial targeting, invalid consent and state control.—
Kimberly Turner,
The Conversation,
22 May 2026
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The problem for central bankers is that monetary policy, which targets demand, can do little about supply coercion, Harker explained.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
17 May 2026
Noun
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An exhibition of Paul Klee’s late works focuses on his depictions of the atmosphere of violence and intimidation in Germany after the Nazis came to power.—
The New York Review of Books,
The New York Review of Books,
23 May 2026
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Krajewski, now 20, of Medina, Ohio, pleaded guilty in March to intimidation, a Level 5 felony.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
22 May 2026
Noun
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Police parked anti-riot vehicles in a central Belgrade area to block the demonstrators from returning, and the violence soon ended.—
Jovana Gec,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2026
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Police parked anti-riot vehicles in a central Belgrade area to block the demonstrators from returning and the violence soon ended.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
23 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Compulsion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compulsion. Accessed 29 May. 2026.
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