forcing

verb

present participle of force
1
as in coercing
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure the public outcry from the scandal forced the mayor to resign road construction forced them to take an alternate route

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in violating
to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse with a person unwilling or unable to give consent was accused of forcing a woman

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of forcing From here, the Manchester City defender sprints into the six-yard box to meet the corner, forcing a good save from Dominik Livakovic, with his team-mates unable to scramble the ball over the line. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 14 July 2026 Meanwhile, raging forest fires and a red-alert heat wave are shaking up France’s biggest national holiday, forcing the cancellation of traditional fireworks and firefighters’ balls. — ABC News, 14 July 2026 The private Marietta school and its leadership, according to the filing, singled out Black workers by surveilling them and forcing them to do work that was the responsibility of white employees. — Jason Armesto, AJC.com, 14 July 2026 Minnesota is facing extreme heat for a long stretch, forcing organizers to change their game plan. — Ubah Ali, CBS News, 14 July 2026 That has left developers with no option other than to construct elaborate guardrails that prevent injected prompts from forcing LLMs to go off the rails. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 13 July 2026 The heat supercharged the material’s ionic conductivity, smoothing out the current and forcing the lithium to march in perfect, uniform lockstep. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 13 July 2026 Swift and Kelce seemed to invite some of their most random acquaintances, forcing people to figure out how celebrities like Simone Biles or Machine Gun Kelly knew the bride and groom. — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 6 July 2026 The new trends are forcing them to rip up decades-old playbooks. — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 6 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forcing
  1. coercing
  2. violating
  3. compelling
  4. raping
  5. obligating
  6. assaulting
  7. obliging
  8. pressuring
Verb
  • Travis Reed, who was a fire captain with the now-defunct Briar Volunteer Fire Department, admitted to coercing a minor into producing child pornography in September, according to a summary of facts in the case.
    — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 June 2026
  • The Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Overreach to Networked Expression Act would prohibit federal agencies and employees from coercing or trying to coerce broadcasters and providers of online services or AI services into changing content.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 11 June 2026
Definition of coercing
Verb
  • His February 2024 reelection — with nearly 85% of the valid votes — was highly criticized by constitutional scholars for violating a ban on consecutive reelection.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 July 2026
  • Among the plethora of college pitchers chosen by the Cubs was right-hander Chase Meyer (ninth round), who was dismissed from West Virginia’s program in early March due to violating team rules.
    — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2026
Definition of violating
Verb
  • His mission is to keep photos of the lounge off social media, compelling the curious to come in and see it for themselves.
    — John Wenzel, Denver Post, 8 July 2026
  • The surge in chip investment and demand has reignited economic growth and inflation, compelling the Bank of Korea (BOK) to consider aggressive rate hikes.
    — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of compelling
Verb
  • Robinson plays Henry, an enslaved person working on a plantation in Texas who’s wrongly accused of raping his master’s wife.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
  • The sheriff said Lawhead was sentenced to spend 19 years in prison for brutally attacking a 71-year-old grandmother and raping her 11-year-old granddaughter in 1980 in Sacramento County.
    — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2026
Definition of raping
Verb
  • Your 11th House of Friends lights up as the life-giving Sun energizes that area, squaring obligating Saturn in your 8th House of Intimacy and Shared Resources.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 6 July 2026
  • The unions argue that carrying out permanent layoffs during a funding lapse violates the Antideficiency Act, which bars agencies from obligating funds without congressional authorization, and exceeds executive authority under the Administrative Procedure Act.
    — Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
Definition of obligating
Verb
  • One of their bookshop employees was John Waters, later to become renowned as the taboo-assaulting filmmaker.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 3 July 2026
  • Kieran McCool, 57, was convicted of assaulting a community worker.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026
Definition of assaulting
Verb
  • The Swedish parliament on Monday adopted a law obliging public sector workers to report to the police any migrants who are not authorized to live in Sweden.
    — Claudia Ciobanu, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026
  • The incident triggered a fire alarm, obliging the entire French delegation — some of whom were still in their pyjamas — to evacuate the building.
    — Tom Williams, New York Times, 17 May 2026
Definition of obliging
Verb
  • Brown is accused of pressuring Bruneau to sign fraudulent insurance documents with inflated repair costs, according to the outlets, citing the affidavit.
    — Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 17 July 2026
  • Bruneau moved in with her boyfriend and told her family that Larry Brown was pressuring her to sign fraudulent insurance documents with inflated repair costs, according to the affidavit.
    — Amy McDaniel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 July 2026
Definition of pressuring

Browse Nearby Words

forcibly
forcing
ford
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Cite this Entry

“Forcing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forcing. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on forcing

Nglish: Translation of forcing for Spanish Speakers

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