as in to coerce
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
public opinion compelled her to fire her scandal-plagued aide
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of compel
In a way, the story became partly about that process, why people film, what compels them to tell stories.
—
Jamie Lang, Variety, 18 May 2025
Join 10 others in the comments View Comments But Congress may not feel as compelled to act in the case of a single commuter railroad.
—Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 16 May 2025
This weakness was underscored five days later, when Putin felt compelled to meet with Prigozhin and Wagner commanders to stabilize the situation, despite having publicly accused Prigozhin of treason.
—Andrei Yakovlev, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2025
The reversion reinstates in big type the only brand that compels many of the service’s 122 million customers to pony up several dollars in subscription fees each month.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for compel
Jamie Lang, Variety, 18 May 2025
Join 10 others in the comments View Comments But Congress may not feel as compelled to act in the case of a single commuter railroad.
—Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 16 May 2025
This weakness was underscored five days later, when Putin felt compelled to meet with Prigozhin and Wagner commanders to stabilize the situation, despite having publicly accused Prigozhin of treason.
—Andrei Yakovlev, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2025
The reversion reinstates in big type the only brand that compels many of the service’s 122 million customers to pony up several dollars in subscription fees each month.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for compel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compel
Verb
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Carter argued his confession was coerced, and the witnesses, two immigrants without legal status, later said police and prosecutors had pressured them to falsely implicate Carter.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 May 2025
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The ensuing conflict between them takes an abrupt turn into a hotel-room two-hander as Anima fastens Abel to a bed and coerces him into confronting his feelings by playing his own music to him and dispensing shallow insights about how his songs’ upbeat melodies belie their cry-for-help content.—
Charles Bramesco,
IndieWire,
15 May 2025
Verb
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Some have succeeded in slashing sales and forcing policy changes.—
Betty Lin-Fisher,
USA Today,
19 May 2025
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Fans are forced to watch that terrifying accident all over again — knowing exactly what's about to happen.—
Keith Langston,
People.com,
18 May 2025
Verb
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Last month, a Los Angeles judge ruled that Sony was no longer obligated to provide episodes to CBS, which has served for decades as the conduit, delivering batches of episodes to television stations around the country.—
Meg James,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2025
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Are the writer’s managers, who’re also producers on the movie, obligated to disclose the bump and renegotiate their client’s pay?—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2025
Verb
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So Kelley, co-showrunner John-Henry Butterworth, and Kidman, who plays the enigmatic Russian wellness guru kindly obliged, serving up nine brand new strangers and plenty more drama in a wintry, idyllic retreat.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
22 May 2025
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The Gulf states obliged, trying to curry favor with the president through investments, arms deals and buying Boeing planes while giving a very lavish one away.—
Domenico Montanaro,
NPR,
16 May 2025
Verb
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The franchise has driven over half a billion hours of streams, with the original accounting for more than 280 hours.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
26 May 2025
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Derek Jeter gets his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth player in Yankees history to reach the milestone. 2008 — Chase Utley tied the National League lead with his 16th homer and drove in six runs as Philadelphia routed Colorado 20-5.—
Houston Mitchell,
Los Angeles Times,
26 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Compel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compel. Accessed 1 Jun. 2025.
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