Coerce

//koʊˈɝs// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To restrain by force, especially by law or authority; to repress; to curb. transitive
  2. 2
    to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means wordnet
  3. 3
    To use force, threat, fraud, or intimidation in an attempt to compel one to act against their will. transitive

    "They coerced their children into going to the country park."

  4. 4
    To force an attribute, normally of a data type, to take on the attribute of another data type. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
bullycompeldragoonbeat downbesetblackjack

Example

More examples

"I can try to persuade her to go, but I can't coerce her."

Etymology

From Latin coërceō (“to surround, encompass, restrain, control, curb”), from co- (“together”) + arceō (“to inclose, confine, keep off”).

More for "coerce"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.