Synonyms for compulsion
kəmˈpʌl ʃəncom·pul·sion

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 4 votes

1. compulsion

   Necessity is the quality of being necessary, or the quality of that which can not but be, become, or be true, or be accepted as true. Need and want always imply a lack; necessity may be used in this sense, but in the higher philosophical sense necessity simply denotes the exclusion of any alternative either in thought or fact; righteousness is a necessity (not a need) of the divine nature. Need suggests the possibility of supplying the deficiency which want expresses; to speak of a person's want of decision merely points out a weakness in his character; to say that he has need of decision implies that he can exercise or attain it. As applied to a deficiency, necessity is more imperative than need; a weary person is in need of rest; when rest becomes a necessity he has no choice but to stop work. An essential is something, as a quality, or element, that belongs to the essence of something else so as to be inseparable from it in its normal condition, or in any complete idea or statement of it. Compare NECESSARY; PREDESTINATION.

   Synonyms:
   destiny, emergency, essential, exigency, extremity, fatality, fate, indispensability, indispensableness, necessity, need, requirement, requisite, sine qua non, unavoidableness, urgency, want

   Antonyms:
   choice, contingency, doubt, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiousness, fortuity, freedom, option, possibility, uncertainty

   Preposition:
   The necessity of surrender; a necessity for action; this is a necessity to me.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. compulsionnoun

   Synonyms:
   for, ce, restraint, control, coercion

   Antonyms:
   persuasion, coaxing, alluring, inducing

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:4.8 / 5 votes

1. compulsion, irresistible impulsenoun

   an urge to do or say something that might be better left undone or unsaid

   "he felt a compulsion to babble on about the accident"

   Synonyms:
   irresistible impulse, coercion, obsession

2. compulsion, obsessionnoun

   an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions, even against your will

   "her compulsion to wash her hands repeatedly"

   Synonyms:
   irresistible impulse, fixation, coercion, obsession

3. compulsion, coercionnoun

   using force to cause something to occur

   "though pressed into rugby under compulsion I began to enjoy the game"; "they didn't have to use coercion"

   Synonyms:
   irresistible impulse, coercion, obsession

Matched Categories

1. • Causing
   • Irrational Motive

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. compulsionnoun

   Synonyms:
   coercion, constraint, application of force

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. compulsionnoun

   Synonyms:
   constraint, coercion, obligation, coaction

   Antonyms:
   discretion, spontaneity, volition, election, free-will

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:5.0 / 2 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "compulsion":

   coercion, duress, coercive, constraint, coercing

Suggested Resources

1. compulsion

   Song lyrics by compulsion -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by compulsion on the Lyrics.com website.

How to pronounce compulsion?

How to say compulsion in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use compulsion in a sentence?

1. Lew Rockwell:

   Anything other than free enterprise always means a society of compulsion and lower living standards, and any form of socialism strictly enforced means dictatorship and the total state. That this statement is still widely disputed only illustrates the degree to which malignant fantasy can capture the imagination of intellectuals.

2. Steven Mosher:

   China has set up a deadly demographic trap for itself, condemning itself to low or no growth for years to come, regardless of how many babies they can, using persuasion or compulsion, get young women to bear.

3. Shalini Sinha:

   Many leading global brands are outsourcing to homeworkers, even if they are unaware of it. Homeworkers are the most vulnerable in the chain, yet they bear a lot of risks because the economic compulsion is so strong.

4. Johann Most:

   If, indeed, anyone should think that, in the communistic society, man must still remain under some form of compulsion in order to, do what is right, and leave off what is wrong, he had better give up communism at once and abandon all hope for the human race.

5. Dinesh D’Souza:

   Compulsion cannot produce virtue; it can only produce the outward semblance of virtue.