Duress

//duˈɹɛs// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Harsh treatment. obsolete, uncountable

    "The agreements […] made with the landlords during the time of slavery, are only the effect of duress and force."

  2. 2
    compulsory force or threat wordnet
  3. 3
    Constraint by threat. uncountable

    "It is unclear when it was filmed and if she was under duress during filming."

  4. 4
    Restraint in which a person is influenced, whether by lawful or unlawful forceful compulsion of their liberty by monition or implementation of physical enforcement; legally for the incurring of civil liability, of a citizen's arrest, or of subrogation, or illegally for the committing of an offense, of forcing a contract, or of using threats. uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To put under duress; to pressure.

    "Someone was duressing her."

Synonyms

All synonyms
coercionamperageargumentum baculinumarmipotenceauthoritybeef

Example

More examples

"This contract was signed under duress and is therefore null and void."

Etymology

Borrowed into Middle English from Old French duresse, from Latin duritia (“hardness”), from durus (“hard”).

Related phrases

duress of circumstances

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