Compel
verb
To force someone to do something.
The law can compel a father to pay child support.
Often appears as...
- compel someone to
- compel obedience
verb
To push or encourage strongly to take action.
His compassion compelled him to help the homeless.
Often appears as...
- compel to act
- compel to help
verb
To necessitate or demand.
The situation compels immediate action.
Often appears as...
- compel attention
- compel action
Usage tips
Formal, Neutral
Academic
verb
To force someone to do something.
The law can compel a father to pay child support.
Often appears as...
- compel someone to
- compel obedience
verb
To push or encourage strongly to take action.
His compassion compelled him to help the homeless.
Often appears as...
- compel to act
- compel to help
verb
To necessitate or demand.
The situation compels immediate action.
Often appears as...
- compel attention
- compel action
Usage tips
Formal, Neutral
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Legal Authority
Used to describe the power of laws or policies to demand obedience from people.
Safety regulations can compel manufacturers to produce safer products.
Pro Tip 2/3External Pressure
Implies an external force making someone do something they may not want to.
Economic pressures can compel companies to cut costs.
Pro Tip 3/3Lack of Choice
Highlights a situation where there is no other option but to perform the action.
The flood compelled us to evacuate our home.
Pro Tip 1/3Legal Authority
Used to describe the power of laws or policies to demand obedience from people.
Safety regulations can compel manufacturers to produce safer products.
Pro Tip 2/3External Pressure
Implies an external force making someone do something they may not want to.
Economic pressures can compel companies to cut costs.
Pro Tip 3/3Lack of Choice
Highlights a situation where there is no other option but to perform the action.
The flood compelled us to evacuate our home.
Pro Tip 1/3Legal Authority
Used to describe the power of laws or policies to demand obedience from people.
Safety regulations can compel manufacturers to produce safer products.
Pro Tip 2/3External Pressure
Implies an external force making someone do something they may not want to.
Economic pressures can compel companies to cut costs.
Pro Tip 3/3Lack of Choice
Highlights a situation where there is no other option but to perform the action.
The flood compelled us to evacuate our home.
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Video examples
He Spent His Career...
of what we do and sharing that with the public and really compelling ways are going to capture their imagination frogs are naturally very sensitive species and the frog species that were working with are extremely rare and endangered so it's really really important that we take extremely good care of them because when they're gone they're gone and we're
Video examples
What "Orwellian" really...
in which one is compelled to disregard their own perception in place of the officially dictated version of events, leaving the individual completely dependent on the State's definition of reality itself. The result is a world in which even the privacy of one's own thought process is violated,
Video examples
Why do cats act so...
so one explanation for Grizmo's propensity to reach into containers and openings is that she is compelled by the same curiosity that helped ensure the continuation of her species for millions of years before. In the wild, cats needed sharp claws for climbing, hunting, and self-defense.
Video examples
Capturing authentic...
identifying what is compelling from what is chatter? You ask surprising questions. To achieve the complicated, fragile human connection, you regard the stories of every subject as sacred. Realize that an anecdote is oxygen that breathes life into a grey story of exposition,
Video examples
How a few scientists...
and they proposed that it was actually these germs that cause diseases, hence the name germ theory. Though most people held onto their assumptions and strongly resisted this theory, its supporters were determined to prove them wrong by collecting compelling data.
Video examples
Chris Milk: How virtual...
to try to tell the most compelling stories that I can to an audience. And film is this incredible medium that allows us to feel empathy for people that are very different than us and worlds completely foreign from our own. Unfortunately,
Video examples
Caring for maternal...
pregnancy and childbirth now after my own brush with one of the leading causes of preventable maternal death I was compelled to do everything that I could to help and prepare and support other women as I would I was becoming more
Video examples
5 Amazing Animal...
forgotten as long as the Cubs call their mother is compelled to keep retrieving them but this would try any mother's patience the young Cubs life is very precarious had the mother been away hunting at a moment like this the
Video examples
Is there a limit to...
that's a pretty compelling sign of life. Or, what if, instead of a structure that passively soaked up all the star's energy, like a plant, an alien civilization built one that actively sucked the energy out of the star
Video examples
Elon Musk talks Twitter,...
sanity that doesn't that doesn't sound super wise isn't that like your your your time your your completely sane centered rested time and decision making is more powerful and compelling than
Video examples
He Spent His Career...
of what we do and sharing that with the public and really compelling ways are going to capture their imagination frogs are naturally very sensitive species and the frog species that were working with are extremely rare and endangered so it's really really important that we take extremely good care of them because when they're gone they're gone and we're
Video examples
What "Orwellian" really...
in which one is compelled to disregard their own perception in place of the officially dictated version of events, leaving the individual completely dependent on the State's definition of reality itself. The result is a world in which even the privacy of one's own thought process is violated,
Video examples
Why do cats act so...
so one explanation for Grizmo's propensity to reach into containers and openings is that she is compelled by the same curiosity that helped ensure the continuation of her species for millions of years before. In the wild, cats needed sharp claws for climbing, hunting, and self-defense.
Video examples
Capturing authentic...
identifying what is compelling from what is chatter? You ask surprising questions. To achieve the complicated, fragile human connection, you regard the stories of every subject as sacred. Realize that an anecdote is oxygen that breathes life into a grey story of exposition,
Video examples
How a few scientists...
and they proposed that it was actually these germs that cause diseases, hence the name germ theory. Though most people held onto their assumptions and strongly resisted this theory, its supporters were determined to prove them wrong by collecting compelling data.
Video examples
Chris Milk: How virtual...
to try to tell the most compelling stories that I can to an audience. And film is this incredible medium that allows us to feel empathy for people that are very different than us and worlds completely foreign from our own. Unfortunately,
Video examples
Caring for maternal...
pregnancy and childbirth now after my own brush with one of the leading causes of preventable maternal death I was compelled to do everything that I could to help and prepare and support other women as I would I was becoming more
Video examples
5 Amazing Animal...
forgotten as long as the Cubs call their mother is compelled to keep retrieving them but this would try any mother's patience the young Cubs life is very precarious had the mother been away hunting at a moment like this the
Video examples
Is there a limit to...
that's a pretty compelling sign of life. Or, what if, instead of a structure that passively soaked up all the star's energy, like a plant, an alien civilization built one that actively sucked the energy out of the star
Video examples
Elon Musk talks Twitter,...
sanity that doesn't that doesn't sound super wise isn't that like your your your time your your completely sane centered rested time and decision making is more powerful and compelling than
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Marcel Proust
French Author
It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds apart, who has no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body.
Quote examples
Neil deGrasse Tyson
American Scientist
Cosmos' wouldn't deserve its place in primetime evening network television were it not a landscape on which compelling stories were told. People, when they watch TV in the evening, want to see stories, and science simply tells the best stories.
Quote examples
Anais Nin
American Author
I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.
Quote examples
Freddie Wong
American Director
I think if you make good, interesting content with compelling story lines and good characters, people will tune into the web for as long as you want them to.
Quote examples
Thich Nhat Hanh
Vietnamese Clergyman
Meditation is to get insight, to get understanding and compassion, and when you have them, you are compelled to act.
Quote examples
Emily Giffin
American Author
I have always been drawn to coming-of-age stories and books and movies featuring compelling young characters.
Quote examples
Ezra Taft Benson
American Leader
God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble, or we can be compelled to be humble.
Quote examples
Jay Asher
American Writer
As a writer, my only responsibility is to tell a compelling story.
Quote examples
John Hodgman
American Comedian
The villain of any story is often the most compelling character.
Quote examples
Jojo Moyes
British Journalist
If the characters are compelling, readers will follow anywhere.
Quote examples
Marcel Proust
French Author
It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds apart, who has no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body.
Quote examples
Neil deGrasse Tyson
American Scientist
Cosmos' wouldn't deserve its place in primetime evening network television were it not a landscape on which compelling stories were told. People, when they watch TV in the evening, want to see stories, and science simply tells the best stories.
Quote examples
Anais Nin
American Author
I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.
Quote examples
Freddie Wong
American Director
I think if you make good, interesting content with compelling story lines and good characters, people will tune into the web for as long as you want them to.
Quote examples
Thich Nhat Hanh
Vietnamese Clergyman
Meditation is to get insight, to get understanding and compassion, and when you have them, you are compelled to act.
Quote examples
Emily Giffin
American Author
I have always been drawn to coming-of-age stories and books and movies featuring compelling young characters.
Quote examples
Ezra Taft Benson
American Leader
God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble, or we can be compelled to be humble.
Quote examples
Jay Asher
American Writer
As a writer, my only responsibility is to tell a compelling story.
Quote examples
John Hodgman
American Comedian
The villain of any story is often the most compelling character.
Quote examples
Jojo Moyes
British Journalist
If the characters are compelling, readers will follow anywhere.
Example 1 of 10
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