forces 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of force
1
as in compels
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure the public outcry from the scandal forced the mayor to resign road construction forced them to take an alternate route

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in violates
to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse with a person unwilling or unable to give consent was accused of forcing a woman

Synonyms & Similar Words

forces

2 of 2

noun

plural of force
1
as in workforces
a body of persons at work or available for work the entire force of the shipyard will be needed to get this government order done on time

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in pressures
the use of power to impose one's will on another a cruel tyrant who disbanded the parliament and ruled by force

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in police
a body of officers of the law the police detective retired after 23 years on the force

Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in supplies
the number of individuals or amount of something available at any given time the great debate during the Cold War was whether the nation's missile force was adequate

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 forces
Verb
When a storm forces them to stay indoors, old wounds and hidden fears come to the surface, exposing their struggle to connect. — Marta Balaga, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026 With minor candidates on the ballot, there's a scenario where Colom pulls an upset or at least forces a runoff. — ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026 The answer forces us to think beyond immediate pressures and focus on lasting impact. — Irma Becerra, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026 Season 2 sees the Dessen family jolted out of their safe, quiet life once again when an unimaginable threat forces them to run once again. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 5 Aug. 2026 Instead, the filmmakers chose to go smaller, focusing on the internal conflict and loneliness of Holland’s Peter Parker after a spell forces his friends to forget him. — Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026 Road safety experts are increasingly concerned about tech that forces drivers to look away from the road to tap physical screens. — New Atlas, 30 July 2026 Morris creates chaotic, high-stakes environments that forces players to sink or swim. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 28 July 2026 No one forces us to perform the role, the financial rewards for those who make the international list are considerable, and for the most part the enjoyment found on the field makes up for the plentiful aggro off it. — Graham Scott, New York Times, 23 July 2026
Noun
Iranian forces fired at several ships using that corridor, prompting Washington to resume strikes on Iran. — Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026 So the 8,800-pound (4,000 kilograms) rocket body remained up there, orbiting Earth — until solar activity and gravitational forces pushed it on a collision course for the moon. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 6 Aug. 2026 This option has been considered in the past, but the USDA remained in charge of the verifications, albeit with Mexican security forces accompanying them. — ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026 Russian forces, meanwhile, have increased the number of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, likely seeking to exploit Kyiv's shortage of ballistic missile interceptors. — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 6 Aug. 2026 Far from stabilizing Lebanon, the multinational forces soon became targets and combatants in the widening war. — Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2026 The plan calls for a surge in humanitarian aid, governance by a civilian Palestinian administration, the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the deployment of an international force to help maintain security. — Reuters, NBC news, 31 July 2026 Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Rutherford Energy Ventures LP are joining forces to build a new network of fusion testing facilities. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 30 July 2026 The paramilitary groups are officially part of Iraqi government security forces, but some of the most powerful militias are beyond government control. — Jane Arraf, NPR, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forces
  1. compels
  2. violates
  3. workforces
  4. pressures
  5. police
  6. supplies
  7. coerces
  8. rapes
Verb
  • 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
  • The competitive pressure to achieve maximal adoption compels a convergence toward openness.
    — Gerui Wang, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of compels
Verb
  • Lawsuits have been filed arguing this level of surveillance violates drivers' Fourth Amendment rights in Virginia and California and challenging the deployment of this technology in New York, South Carolina and West Virginia.
    — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Now, Pewitt, 51, formerly of Hammond, is asking for the Porter County charge, for allegedly shooting at a sheriff’s deputy, to be dismissed because the delay violates Pewitt’s right to a speedy trial, according to the filing.
    — Amy Lavalley, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of violates
Noun
  • Industries may handle their workforces differently based on a variety of factors.
    — Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The trend toward rewarding strong individual performers within a business marks a shift away from companies spreading pay hikes evenly across their workforces.
    — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of workforces
Noun
  • Separating students from those pressures for several hours could encourage face-to-face conversation and give overwhelmed teenagers a genuine break.
    — Kavin Bendre, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026
  • It’s closely watched for evidence of whether underlying price pressures are easing amid supply shocks that can drive the headline Consumer Price Index number higher.
    — Rachel Barber, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of pressures
Noun
  • Reuters — The Thai teen behind a deadly school shooting outside Bangkok had an air gun confiscated by a teacher last year and had watched violent content online, police said on Sunday, as the government promised new safety protocols for schools.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The presenter, former journalist Anchalee Paireerak, was seen reacting with shock and told him to wait for police to arrive.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of police
Noun
  • Tehran also responded by effectively shutting down tanker and cargo traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of global oil supplies usually transit.
    — Frank Andrews, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Before the war, an average of 120 vessels crossed the crucial waterway, through which one-fifth of global oil supplies used to travel, every day.
    — Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of supplies
Verb
  • 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
Definition of coerces
Verb
  • In that film’s story, Insiang (Hilda Koronel) metes out revenge against Dado (Ruel Vernal), her hateful mother’s lover, who rapes her after rejecting his advances.
    — Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 10 July 2026
  • Through these photos, Dominique Pelicot is not ‘just’ casting an incestuous gaze on me, as was said during the investigation and the Mazan rapes trial.
    — TIME, Time, 7 Apr. 2026
Definition of rapes

Phrases Containing forces

Browse Nearby Words

for certain
forces
forcible
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Forces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forces. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on forces

Nglish: Translation of forces for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of salvo

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All