1
as in drives
to set or keep in motion
gasoline impels a car's engine
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in compels
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
I felt impelled to tell the truth, however painful it might be
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impels
And so, our mission – grounded in both truth and love – impels us to discern the motives that shape events, and the shifts in thought that drive human progress through higher ideals of justice, mercy, and wisdom.
—
Christa Case Bryant, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Mar. 2025
Christa Case Bryant, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impels
Verb
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The trading push comes as the Middle East war disrupts commodity flows and drives up costs across global supply chains.—
Lee Ying Shan,Emily Tan,
CNBC,
16 Apr. 2026
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Scientists know that dark energy is an all-pervasive something that drives the universe’s accelerating expansion.—
Claire Cameron,
Scientific American,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Shameful pride compels me to say there are only about 300 players in the Hall of Fame.—
Ron Mix,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2026
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But the implicit argument, that Colorado law effectively compels Jeffco to violate Title IX, is a major, predictable indictment of our legislature.—
Lisa Frizell,
Denver Post,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Each of us moves through a world strewn with figurative mountains and molehills, continually assessing what matters more and what matters less.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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What was a human being a second before is now a head bobbing among the waves as the vessel moves quickly away.—
David Szondy
April 19,
New Atlas,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But what begins as a local emergency soon spirals into a deeper, more terrifying mystery, one that forces the town’s residents to confront the unknown.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
10 Apr. 2026
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This constraint forces strict prioritization.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Servín activates his panic button that many searchers carry.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Apr. 2026
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Unlike traditional compression, which applies constant pressure—whether it’s needed or not—Rheon activates only during impact (movement or strain) and then returns to a flexible state.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Footwear News,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
4 Dec. 2025
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Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
14 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Beijing is also advancing railgun technology, a type of electromagnetic weapon that propels projectiles along a pair of parallel rails at extreme speeds, while promising higher velocity and longer range than conventional guns, potentially transforming naval and land-based combat.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Apr. 2026
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In astrology, the sun represents our vitality, identity and the force that propels us forward in life.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The collective defense clause, if invoked by a member state, obligates all other members of the transatlantic alliance to treat an attack on one as an attack on all.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
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Europe’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) obligates foreign streaming services to invest a portion of their revenue into local productions, but leaves the modalities of this obligation to each individual country.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impels. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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