How to Use impel in a Sentence

impel

verb

• She felt impelled to give a speech after the performance.
• His interest in the American Civil War impelled him to make repeated visits to Gettysburg.
• But with this film, as with all her others, Ramsay impels us to see.
  — Leah Pickett, Chicago Reader, 12 Apr. 2018
• In a flash, rain poured and wind whipped at once, blowing trash onto the field and impelling a rapid response from the grounds crew.
  — Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2019
• As a sample of one, Davis couldn’t clinch the case, of course, but being a woman impelled her to prove herself on the trail.
  — Paul Bisceglio, The Atlantic, 13 May 2018
• The 2016 election also impelled her to act, to set an example for her son.
  — Melena Ryzik, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2018
• This works as a rhetorical move: No one wants to be stuck, and dread of this fate can impel a person to action.
  — Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 11 July 2022
• Social conventions impel boys to move on, be strong, suck it up.
  — Michael Reichert, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2018
• While a trade war with the U.S. would be disastrous for China, national pride might impel Xi to fight on.
  — Bloomberg.com, 12 Apr. 2018
• The failure to make progress on the issue is what impelled Democrats in the Senate to refuse to pass a spending bill last month, leading to the temporary shutdown.
  — Nash Jenkins, Time, 6 Feb. 2018
• The purpose of this verbal sleight of hand is to humanize trees, and thereby impel the reader to extend greater care to them.
  — Robert Moor, The New Yorker, 10 June 2021
• These actions have been impelled by the need to conserve scarce protective gear for health care workers.
  — Hal Bernton, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Mar. 2020
• This contributes to the lawlessness and violence that impel people to flee the region and go to the United States.
  — The Economist, 10 May 2018
• David Sedaris’ essays impel me to read aloud and laugh communally – at the beach, on a road trip, and sometimes at the dinner table.
  — Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 June 2021
• Anyone who knew about plants would know that there were roots beneath the surface impelling their way through the underlying soil.
  — Linda McNamar, Orange County Register, 21 May 2017
• At least some rental contracts give tenants the power to impel their landlord to install window guards against theft.
  — Cecilia D'anastasio, Wired, 24 Jan. 2020
• Most of the other people portrayed in the film are impelled by fear, deprivation and love of family.
  — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2023
• The need to evolve from a Clamor into a Teo impelled a series of self-consciously virile escapades.
  — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023
• But the announcement of the plan to potentially put down the bear impelled two Banff residents to start a protest petition.
  — Fox News, 14 July 2017
• What on earth impelled Mr. Martins to make Romeo suddenly wrap Tybalt’s head in his cloak and stab him repeatedly in the back?
  — Alastair MacAulay, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2018
• And that impatience, coupled with the impetus of tournament cash, impels them to catch more fish, faster.
  — Frank Sargeant, AL.com, 4 Nov. 2017
• Of course, the high-profile role of public officials should impel them to be sticklers about following their own rules.
  — Rich Lowry, National Review, 3 Aug. 2021
• What impels her forward is the voice: free, pellucid, almost always first-person, interested not in the long view but in the here and now.
  — Abhrajyoti Chakraborty, The New Republic, 5 Aug. 2019
• When Isaac Newton was a student at Cambridge in the early 1660s, something impelled him to reflect on his boyhood sins and to commit them, in code, to a tiny notebook.
  — Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 10 Feb. 2017
• The vocalist’s death at 49 shocked the music world and impelled the group to get behind mental health and suicide prevention campaigns.
  — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 17 Dec. 2019
• Is intervention likely to impel more violence in the long term?
  — Daniel Bessner, The New Republic, 4 Sep. 2019
• Kirkwood’s determination to preserve the Union impelled him to lobby during the summer of 1862 for the enlistment of blacks into the Union Army.
  — Mac Lloyd, The Aegis, 6 Sep. 2017
• The title track to her 13th album is impelled by acoustic guitars, strings and a full chorus that details her emotional stamina.
  — Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 17 Aug. 2023
• This is noteworthy since politicians from states without income taxes complain that Quill could impel them to pass one to raise revenue.
  — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 15 Mar. 2018
• Cars driving by impelled the police to end the standoff violently.
  — Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2018

Last Updated: 9 May 2024