Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To urge to action through moral pressure; drive: I was impelled by events to take a stand.
- v. To drive forward; propel.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To drive or urge forward; press on; incite or constrain to action in any way: as, steam is the impelling force of a locomotive.
- Synonyms Prompt, Induce, etc. (see actuate); to influence, push on, force on, move, lead, set on. (See list under incite.)
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation. (contrast with propel, to compel or drive extrinsically)
- v. transitive To drive forward; to propel an object.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To drive or urge forward or on; to press on; to incite to action or motion in any way.
WordNet 3.0
- v. cause to move forward with force
- v. urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate
Etymologies
- From Latin impellō (Wiktionary)
- Middle English impellen, from Latin impellere : in-, against; + pellere, to drive. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Your country's calls, your excitement, honour and glory, again impel, and undauntedly and cheerfully you expose that life which the night before you fancied was of value.”
The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
“In other words the faster you go thru that muck, the deeper the object going to impel and damage your ATV!!”
“If you represented the respective trademark owners, which if any of these would impel you to write a letter?”
“Whether his new emphasis on investment, along with restructured corporate taxes, will actually impel our multinational corporations to produce their goods at home is by no means clear, as I argue in my op-ed column on tomorrow's page.”
“Perhaps Opechancanough thought his masterstroke would impel the whites to withdraw.”
“But remember, "the stars impel, they do not compel.”
“Allowance of Rate differention will always impel inflationary price increases.”
Prescribing Capitalism, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“Only by recognizing the magnitude of this tragedy can we impel the world to rise up and say more forcefully than it already has: 'This is not okay.”
The Huffington Post: Rabbi Steve Gutow: What Has Gilad Shalit Missed and What Have We Experienced?
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
“But if another kind of actor -- the non-state variety such as al Qaeda -- were the beneficiary of nuclear weapons, would its new status impel it to think like a state, or, in its case, a caliphate?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘impel’.
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hunting
crudely, unequivocal, obsolete, obscure, overtly, misdeed, shack, inherent, outcry, hefty, composed, poised and 317 more...
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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 4087 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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scholarly writing words
decrement, replete, impel, iterative, subsume, tacit, vex, denote, impart, ascertain, coalesce, extant and 49 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, I
irenic, inimical, ignotism, infrangible, internecine, illumine, ingot, imposter, iconoclast, indefeasible, indefatigable, impingement and 184 more...
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My preparation
for GRE ofcourse
exonerate, incipient, disparate, morbid, engross, ebullient, predilection, propensity, allure, qualms, chastise, perpetuate and 111 more...
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everythingecstatic's Words
cadence, frenetic, eloquence, paradigm, nocturne, elusive, effervescence, soliloquy, plethora, elision, aqueous, transcend and 166 more...
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Consider the Lobster
By David Foster Wallace
percussive, discursive, lugubrious, docent, assiduously, berm, wag, bonmot, imbroglio, telegraph, fissile, rube and 220 more...
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Aequoria's list
affect, deleterious, nuance, pliant, verbatim, pertinent, latter, municipality, provincial, voyeuristic, circumlocution, wane and 798 more...
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epeolatrist's list
epeolatry, syzygy, sphallolalia, lucubration, lugubrious, cacology, mellifluous, tmesis, synecdoche, anathema, eschatological, razbliuto and 349 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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School Words
hagiography, antediluvian, rakish, impeccable, hackneyed, irascible, nascent, teetotaller, suffragette, amiable, expiate, turbulent and 110 more...
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The Lies of Locke Lamora
Words and phrases from Scott Lynch's book, The Lies of Locke Lamora
constable, windfall, sternum, commensurate, disinter, grotty, thresher shark, savvy, miser, reticent, magnanimous, trowel and 301 more...
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ikepela's Words
quixotic, tempestuous, myriad, bubble, chevalier, archaic, soma, springs, strokes, snicker, lunacy, electricityscape and 110 more...
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the name of the rose
pleasing words I encounter whilst reading umberto eco's novel of the same name.
matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, nones, vespers, compline, usurper, simoniac, heresiarch, malefactor and 230 more...
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Words!
quixotic, lugubrious, laconic, terse, diaphanous, truculent, solipsism, meretricious, recondite, salacious, avuncular, obdurate and 229 more...
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