coerces

verb

present tense third-person singular of coerce
as in compels
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure was coerced into signing the document

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of coerces However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025 Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025 While China often threatens and coerces other countries, such as in disputes with South Korea and Australia, its actions are often triggered by events that China feels directly threaten its core interests. — David C. Kang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2025 Compulsory heterosexuality is a theoretical framework coined by lesbian scholar Adrienne Rich in 1980 to describe how heterosexuality as an institution compels and coerces female sexuality for patriarchal purposes. — Quispe López, Them., 27 Aug. 2025 The Fate of the Furious (2017) The first film in the franchise since Tokyo Drift not to feature Walker, the eighth movie sees Charlize Theron as a cyberterrorist named Cipher who coerces Dom into working for her and turns him against his team. — Adam England, People.com, 18 Aug. 2025 Among the arguments that the government has advanced is that Ticketmaster coerces venues by conditioning access to artists on picking the company as the ticketer for the event. — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coerces
  1. compels
  2. forces
  3. obliges
  4. obligates
Verb
  • Washington also opposed another streaming regulation, known as Bill 109, passed in Quebec last December, which compels streaming platforms to prioritize French-language content.
    — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Frank’s ruling keeps the proposal to raise the homestead exemption up to $250,000 for Florida property owners on the ballot, but compels Attorney General James Uthmeier to rewrite parts of the plan.
    — Romy Ellenbogen Herald, Miami Herald, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of compels
Verb
  • Iranian officials dismiss the campaign as familiar punishment, while analysts warn decades of sanctions show pressure alone rarely forces Tehran to yield and may instead harden positions on all sides.
    — Farnoush Amiri, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Investors Make Your Financials Non-Negotiable Nothing forces financial discipline like a quarterly investor update.
    — Lien De Pau, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of forces
Verb
  • The following day, the state added him to its official register of terrorists and extremists, a designation that obliges Russian banks to freeze his assets.
    — Susie Violet Ward, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • Zeus obliges, striking their ship with a thunderbolt that destroys it and kills every member of Odysseus’ crew except the king himself.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 20 July 2026
Definition of obliges
Verb
  • Zeus’s Law obligates Telemachus and Odysseus’s wife Penelope to host the suitors who hope to marry her in Odysseus’s absence.
    — Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 16 July 2026
  • The Montreux Convention obligates Turkey to allow commercial ships freedom of passage, but allows the country to charge for some specific things, including sanitary, pilotage, towage and lighthouse services.
    — Joanne Stocker, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Definition of obligates

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coerces
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Cite this Entry

“Coerces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coerces. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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