coerced; coercing
1
: to compel to an act or choice
was coerced into agreeing
abusers who coerce their victims into silence
2
: to achieve by force or threat
coerce compliance
coerce obedience
3
: to restrain or dominate by force
religion in the past has tried to coerce the irreligious—
W. R. Inge
W. R. IngeExamples of coerce in a Sentence
A confession was coerced from the suspect by police.
was coerced into signing the document
Recent Examples on the Web
The alleged kidnappers shocked the victim with electric wires, held him upside down from the top of a staircase, cut his leg with a saw and threatened to kill his family in a bid to coerce their Italian hostage to unlock his Bitcoin account, prosecutors said.
—Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 30 May 2025
Swat is coerced into taking on the role or finally getting legal comeuppances for all of his misdeeds and ends up taking on solving the mystery of a series of disappearances plaguing Echo city.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 29 May 2025
Prosecutors called a series of witnesses to bolster their contention that the hip-hop mogul is more than a domestic abuser and uses his entire Bad Boy empire to coerce, threaten and abuse his victims and, most specifically, his onetime lover Cassie Ventura.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2025
Trump had recently threatened to slap a 25% tariff on Apple to coerce the company into moving iPhone production to the United States.
—Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Quartz, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for coerce
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Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 30 May 2025
Swat is coerced into taking on the role or finally getting legal comeuppances for all of his misdeeds and ends up taking on solving the mystery of a series of disappearances plaguing Echo city.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 29 May 2025
Prosecutors called a series of witnesses to bolster their contention that the hip-hop mogul is more than a domestic abuser and uses his entire Bad Boy empire to coerce, threaten and abuse his victims and, most specifically, his onetime lover Cassie Ventura.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2025
Trump had recently threatened to slap a 25% tariff on Apple to coerce the company into moving iPhone production to the United States.
—Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Quartz, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for coerce
Cite this Entry
“Coerce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coerce. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
coerce
verb
co·erce
kō-ˈərs 
coerced; coercing
: to cause someone to do something by force or threat
coercion
noun
-ˈər-zhən
-shən
coercive
adjective
-ˈər-siv
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