impels

verb

Definition of impelsnext
present tense third-person singular of impel
1
as in drives
to set or keep in motion gasoline impels a car's engine

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in compels
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure I felt impelled to tell the truth, however painful it might be

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for impels
  1. drives
  2. compels
  3. activates
  4. propels
Verb
  • Zack Rosenblatt spent time with Vrabel over the last five months and came away with a fantastic tale of who Vrabel is now, and what drives him.
    Chris Branch, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
  • Everyone either deals directly with a customer, supports someone who does or is part of the process that drives or supports the customer experience.
    Shep Hyken, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
Definition of drives
Verb
  • At the book’s conclusion, looking far into a post-apocalyptic future, Jacobsen compels us to consider what future generations—or the remnants of humanity, should any survive a nuclear war—might think of a civilization that took 12,000 years to build but just 72 hours to destroy itself.
    Michael Sheldrick, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2024
  • Dianne Brill talking about what compels them to create, among other topics.
    Morgan Meier, Curbed, 27 Dec. 2024
Definition of compels
Verb
  • The brain’s default mode network (DMN), responsible for creativity and processing complex ideas, activates during moments of rest.
    Scott Hutcheson, Forbes, 24 Dec. 2024
  • Instead, a change in their finances activates the tax.
    Bob Carlson, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
Definition of activates
Verb
  • This explosion propels brightly burning particles in all directions, creating streaks of light in the air.
    David Bressan, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
  • The boisterous music of their debut album Fine Art propels the antics, and Peppiatt’s psychedelic cinematography (plus, some use of claymation) brings a kinetic energy to the biopic genre.
    Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 29 Dec. 2024
Definition of propels
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near impels

impelling

impels

impend

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Impels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impels. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on impels

Nglish: Translation of impels for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of impels for Arabic 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!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Using Bullet Points ( • )

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

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Top 12 Sophisticated Compliments

Word of the Year 2024 | Polarization

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)
See All

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 Word Game 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?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
white rubber duck stands out in a row of yellow ducks
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.