Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The act of compelling.
- n. The state of being compelled.
- n. An irresistible impulse to act, regardless of the rationality of the motivation: "The compulsion to protect the powerful from the discomfort of public disclosure feeds further abuse and neglect” ( Boston Globe).
- n. An act or acts performed in response to such an impulse.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The application (to a person) of superior force, physical or moral, overpowering or overruling his preferences; the force applied; constraint, physical or moral.
Wiktionary
- n. An irrational need to perform some action, often despite negative consequences.
- n. The use of authority, influence, or other power to force (compel) a person or persons to act.
- n. The lawful use of violence (i.e. by the administration).
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The act of compelling, or the state of being compelled; the act of driving or urging by force or by physical or moral constraint; subjection to force.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions, even against your will
- n. an urge to do or say something that might be better left undone or unsaid
- n. using force to cause something to occur
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin compulsiō, compulsiōn-, from Latin compulsus, past participle of compellere, to compel; see compel.
Examples
“But that their realization requires compulsion, and _compulsion in the form of a dictatorship_, is ordinarily not comprehended.”
“Because I realize that the compulsion is almost irresistable.”
“But Faust cannot turn away from the awful figure of his lost love, and his compulsion is the sign that he has not abandoned his inspiration.”
The Beauty of the Medusa: A Study in Romantic Literary Iconology
“So the learning process, that interaction between humans and between us and our environment, that complicated psychological and cultural practice, that dance of motivation and compulsion, is being handcuffed into narrow moments of transmission -- the downloading of facts.”
The Huffington Post: Rick Ayers: It's Time to Decriminalize Learning
“Spot on where the distinction between a new ‘right’ and a compulsion is concerned.”
Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » Our Rights are Threatened by All These New Rights
“Of any thing worth having, compulsion is a most unsuitable instrument for conveying it to mankind.”
“The compulsion is just that, an involuntary urge which has nothing to do with choice: a deep, sometimes desperate need to order the universe, usually as an anxiety reaction, which sometimes comes to rule the person's life.”
“You fail to appreciate that our President is under compulsion from a higher authority than even our Holy Constition.”
“What's so fascinating about it is that you called the compulsion your "Demon" when ostensibly you were praying to God.”
“Instead, the compulsion is too strong to sneer and mock at the hated Dubya.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘compulsion’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Psychology
Chapter 1
rigorous, occurrence, maze, divers, intellectual, expansion, all in all, sensation, introspection, radical, orientation, nurture and 174 more...
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