impelled

verb

past tense of impel
1
as in drove
to set or keep in motion gasoline impels a car's engine

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in compelled
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure I felt impelled to tell the truth, however painful it might be

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 impelled His experience impelled him to join an informal yet determined community of researchers, doctors, and patients pushing for extra studies to help patients and doctors find the right dosage for an array of cancer drugs. — CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026 Our purpose in glorifying Him – our responsiveness to Him – is as God-impelled and empowered as is His responsibility to us. — Judith Hardy Olson, Christian Science Monitor, 10 Aug. 2026 Sometimes the ideological passions that impelled a work into existence dissolve over time, leaving behind something that can be appreciated as art. — Vivian Yee, New York Times, 20 June 2026 That emotional closeness was one of the driving forces that impelled me to bring this project to the screen in an exercise of deep respect for a complex memory that does not lend itself to simplification. — Roberto Prieto, Variety, 19 June 2026 Both were impelled to launch ninth-inning pushes to persuade Oscar voters that Shakespeare wasn’t really in love and Private Ryan needed serious saving. — Peter Bart, Deadline, 8 Jan. 2026 Daniel’s commercial failure as a novelist impelled him to move to Los Angeles to try writing for the movies. — David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025 While the recent protests were sparked by the social media ban, protesters said that they had been impelled by years of government corruption and failure to provide young people with economic opportunities. — Alia Shoaib, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impelled
  1. drove
  2. compelled
  3. moved
  4. forced
  5. propelled
  6. coerced
  7. activated
  8. obliged
Verb
  • In the 1970s, Khouri, who went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Thelma & Louise, drove past the Tudor-style house almost every day.
    — Caroline Randall Williams, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The next day, David drove back to Altadena while Lauren took the girls to Target to buy toothbrushes and underwear.
    — Nicola Twilley, New Yorker, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of drove
Verb
  • With her new job starting Monday, Argyriou and her family felt compelled to get on the road.
    — Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Their scouting evaluation, comprehensive enough to unearth the aptitude beneath that bushy head of hair, compelled the team to select Bredeson in the fifth round of the 2026 draft.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of compelled
Verb
  • Lala moved south of the Big Island on Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane, damaging or destroying more than 100 homes and cutting off some communities, according to the governor.
    — Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026
  • When Airbnb moved an earlier cohort of hosts to the new structure last year, about 30% raised prices enough to fully offset the higher fee and another 30% partially offset it, according to an analysis by short-term rental data firm AirDNA.
    — Mike Winters, CNBC, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of moved
Verb
  • The plant, which has not been identified for security reasons, was forced to close for four days because of the infiltration, the report said.
    — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Within a mind-spinning eight months, Zori Timeless Hotel was born, cleverly converted from the old pension into four luxurious residences within the confines of strict planning regulations that forced them to use the existing space.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of forced
Verb
  • The telescope will get off the ground and be propelled into space from the historic Launch Complex 39A – the site of many Apollo moon mission launches – at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida.
    — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Her immense musical talent guaranteed her top-tier standing in country music and propelled her into a level of mainstream success that only a handful of her peers would match.
    — Ann Powers, NPR, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of propelled
Verb
  • The inspection followed a hunger strike by detainees, who in a letter, complained about rotten or worm-infested food, medical neglect, and being coerced into signing deportation orders.
    — Vanessa Romo, NPR, 20 Aug. 2026
  • In 1963, the Supreme Court banned confessions given under scopolamine and other truth-inducers as unconstitutionally coerced.
    — Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of coerced
Verb
  • The feature is only available when a driver has activated Uber’s Record My Ride feature and enabled live streaming, according to information Uber provided to Mashable.
    — Angelique Brenes, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The sight had activated an ancient and superstitious circuit in my brain that insisted the sun simply shouldn't look this way.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of activated
Verb
  • This tweak doubles the amount of time a player is obliged to wait on the sidelines from 30 seconds to one minute.
    — Graham Scott, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • There’s also a June 4 deadline for the expiration of a deal, with Paramount obliged to pay a $7 billion termination fee.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of obliged

Browse Nearby Words

impel
impelled
impelling
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Impelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impelled. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of cogent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 28

Why do we say 'break a leg'?
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All