What is another word for compel?

Synonyms for compel
kəmˈpɛlcom·pel

This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word compel.

English Synonyms and Antonyms4.0 / 3 votes

  1. compel

    To compel one to an act is to secure its performance by the use of irresistible physical or moral force. Force implies primarily an actual physical process, absolutely subduing all resistance. Coerce implies the actual or potential use of so much force as may be necessary to secure the surrender of the will; the American secessionists contended that the Federal government had no right to coerce a State. Constrain implies the yielding of judgment and will, and in some cases of inclination or affection, to an overmastering power; as, "the love of Christ constraineth us," 2 Cor. v, 14. Compare DRIVE; INFLUENCE.

    See synonyms for HINDER.

    Synonyms:
    coerce, constrain, drive, force, make, necessitate, oblige

    Preposition:
    The soldiers were compelled to desertion: preferably with the infinitive, compelled to desert.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms4.0 / 4 votes

  1. compel

    Synonyms:
    force, oblige, drive, constrain, necessitate, make, coerce, bind

    Antonyms:
    persuade, convince, coax, allure, egg, induce, tempt, seduce, acquit, cozen, liberate, release

Princeton's WordNet3.0 / 3 votes

  1. compel, oblige, obligateverb

    force somebody to do something

    "We compel all students to fill out this form"

    Synonyms:
    oblige, accommodate, bind, obligate, hold

  2. compelverb

    necessitate or exact

    "the water shortage compels conservation"

    Synonyms:
    oblige, obligate

Matched Categories

Dictionary of English Synonymes0.0 / 0 votes

  1. compelverb

    Synonyms:
    force, oblige, constrain, coerce, drive, necessitate

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words0.0 / 0 votes

  1. compelverb

    Synonyms:
    force, make, constrain, oblige, necessitate, coerce, drive, dragoon, overpower

PPDB, the paraphrase database0.0 / 0 votes

  1. List of paraphrases for "compel":

    oblige, coerce, force, require, obligate, impose, bind

How to pronounce compel?

How to say compel in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Words popularity by usage frequency

rankingword
#132make
#737drive
#1022force
#1275hold
#1539require
#8016accommodate
#8275bind
#9781impose
#25684compel
#31363constrain
#39203necessitate
#44733oblige
#48826coerce
#53932obligate

How to use compel in a sentence?

  1. Jared Dearing:

    Most of us can not compel our local election jurisdictions to update their equipment.

  2. Johann Most:

    When state and government have gone, laws must go. People who speak of “laws” in a communistic society, think perhaps only of those general rules of sensible and noble conduct which every good man finds it easy to observe. But in that case they use a wrong word. A law is a rule connected with an apparatus to compel obedience. Behind the law stand the court, the sheriff, the police, the hangman, etc., and who wants them? None, we guess.

  3. White House:

    The United States strongly objects to China's attempts to compel private firms to use specific language of a political nature in their publicly available content, we call on China to stop threatening and coercing American carriers and citizens.

  4. Felix Frankfurter:

    The words of the Constitution are so unrestricted by their intrinsic meaning or by their history or by tradition or by prior decisions that they leave the individual Justice free, if indeed they do not compel him, to gather meaning not from reading the Constitution but from reading life.

  5. Elise Stefanik:

    Today, I stood up for Upstate NY families who tragically lost 20 people in the tragic Schoharie County limo crash that could have been avoided had the FBI not turned a blind eye to the criminal actions of the driver – an FBI informant – and his company's long history of negligence. It is part of Congress' job to conduct proper oversight of the FBI's activities, and I will not hesitate to compel all FBI documents regarding the tragic Schoharie County limo crash with a Congressional subpoena next year in a Republican Majority.


Translations for compel

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • تجبرArabic
  • подчинявам, насилвам, принуждавам, заставям, събирамBulgarian
  • nutitCzech
  • zwingen, nötigenGerman
  • αναγκάζωGreek
  • devigiEsperanto
  • forzar, obligar, compelerSpanish
  • pakottaa, [[periä]] [[väkisin]], ajaaFinnish
  • obligerFrench
  • ենթարկել, ստիպել, հարկադրել, պարտադրելArmenian
  • לאלץHebrew
  • 강요하다Korean
  • qui nolentes cogeretLatin
  • bedwingen, afdwingen, dwingen, bijeendrijven, samendrijvenDutch
  • tvingeNorwegian
  • forçarPortuguese
  • обязывать, вынудить, принудить, обязать, принуждать, заставить, заставлять, подчинять, вынуждать, собиратьRussian
  • tvingaSwedish
  • บังคับThai
  • צווינגעןYiddish
  • 迫使Chinese

Get even more translations for compel »

Translation

Find a translation for the compel synonym in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Citation

Use the citation below to add these synonyms to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"compel." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Feb. 2025. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/compel>.

Discuss these compel synonyms with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good synonym for compel?

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant synonyms for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant synonyms for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a human thesaurus?

    »
    Which is a not synonymous of the others ?
    A synonymous
    B unique
    C proper
    D original

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for compel: