as in obliged
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
public opinion compelled her to fire her scandal-plagued aide
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as in forced
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Recent Examples of compelled
Jordan Michelman, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
During a talk at the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club luncheon, Yurachek laid out the reasons that have compelled UA officials to have the contract with War Memorial come to an end with no games on the horizon.
—Tom Murphy, Arkansas Online, 4 Sep. 2025
Phones don’t seem to be the long-term solution, pins flopped, and glasses haven’t compelled the masses yet.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The sort that legend says compelled Pepper Rodgers in 1969 to flash Dan Devine a peace sign late in a 69-21 pummeling by Mizzou … and for Devine to flash half of one back.
—Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
Besser said the ousting of Monarez, along with the resignation of at least four top leaders, compelled him and his colleagues to speak out.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2025
Aviezer said she felt compelled to share the jeans online after seeing them in person.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
His promising play even compelled Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney to make the trip to Charlotte and watch practice from the sideline.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 30 Aug. 2025
His hope was that someone listening might be compelled to share the kind of information they were too intimidated to bring to a major outlet.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
As for me, whatever posturing impulse had compelled my attendance at the 10-year had dimmed considerably.
—Jordan Michelman, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
During a talk at the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club luncheon, Yurachek laid out the reasons that have compelled UA officials to have the contract with War Memorial come to an end with no games on the horizon.
—Tom Murphy, Arkansas Online, 4 Sep. 2025
Phones don’t seem to be the long-term solution, pins flopped, and glasses haven’t compelled the masses yet.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The sort that legend says compelled Pepper Rodgers in 1969 to flash Dan Devine a peace sign late in a 69-21 pummeling by Mizzou … and for Devine to flash half of one back.
—Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
Besser said the ousting of Monarez, along with the resignation of at least four top leaders, compelled him and his colleagues to speak out.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2025
Aviezer said she felt compelled to share the jeans online after seeing them in person.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
His promising play even compelled Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney to make the trip to Charlotte and watch practice from the sideline.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 30 Aug. 2025
His hope was that someone listening might be compelled to share the kind of information they were too intimidated to bring to a major outlet.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compelled
Verb
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Though Andre officially ended things with his other flame, Ashley (Jen Jacob), Dani's daughter's abduction has forced her to spend some questionable quality time with her ex-husband Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett), who, it should be noted, shares a last name with Devon Winters' birth mother Yolanda.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Sep. 2025
-
On Sunday, Rodgers celebrated when the Steelers forced and recovered a fumble during a fourth-quarter kickoff return.—
Mike Sando,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Winters writes that this initial system of coerced labor didn’t go very well for the elites.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Like Netflix's popular 2015 docuseries Making a Murderer, The Yogurt Shop Murders explores unethical interrogation tactics used by law enforcement and questions of coerced confessions.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Then they are obliged to follow all lines of enquiry and take action as appropriate.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Kendrick Bourne - New England Patriots After being on the 53 man roster Tuesday, Bourne requested to be released by the Patriots on Wednesday and the team obliged his request.—
Mike Fore,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Far from being dead, reunions exist now in a zone of distortion, a weird gray area in which many people feel obligated to go without quite knowing why.—
Jordan Michelman,
The Atlantic,
4 Sep. 2025
-
To that point, the NFLMC is a multiemployer bargaining association that is legally obligated to share information with its members.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Traffic stops represent the most common nonvoluntary interaction between citizens and police officers in the U.S.—
Derek Epp,
The Conversation,
3 Feb. 2023
-
Of the 59 CEOs who departed S&P 500 firms last year, 30.5% were let go on a nonvoluntary basis, up from 22.1% in 2017, according to the Conference Board's 2019 CEO Succession Practices report.—
Fortune,
Fortune,
6 Nov. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Compelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compelled. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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