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coerce

[koh-urs] / koʊˈɜrs /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Did your sister-in-law coerce or somehow pressure him into paying off her $50,000 debt?

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

A fast, he insisted, was not blackmail but an act of suffering intended to awaken rather than coerce.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

Vullo, in which the court held that the government cannot use informal tactics, like thinly-veiled threats of selective enforcement or demands for cooperation, to coerce private actors.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026

The ruling found the subpoenas related to immigration enforcement were meant to “harass, coerce and retaliate.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

She grappled briefly with Bloomberg, trying to coerce him into a docile lap-cat’s repose.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

Another federal law prohibits voter intimidation, with up to a yearlong prison sentence for anybody who intimidates, threatens, or coerces somebody else with the purpose of interfering with another person’s right to vote.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

“We’re both familiar with what can happen and what has happened, when the state coerces people and restricts fundamental human rights, on a very personal level,” Howald said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025

Lawsuits also say the program unconstitutionally coerces drugmakers into selling their products at inadequate prices.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 30, 2023

Just do not be surprised when your sister-in-law ignores any handwritten invitations and coerces you into sending text reminders anyway.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2023

He avoids the ballroom entirely, save for a single waltz when Tsukiko coerces him onto the dance floor.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Tribes along the coast who were coerced into building the missions, including the Gabrielino, have had an especially hard time gaining recognition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

Walters’ supporters further argue that Oxford’s statements implicating Walters—as well as Travis’ testimony against him—were tainted, the result of the men being coerced by police and angling for lighter sentences.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

The scandal saw the mothers, including many who were teenagers, coerced into giving up their children, with social, institutional and family pressures used to persuade them that adoption was their only option.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

The patients I know who contributed to the hospital to “honor” their doctor were certainly not coerced.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

She could be coerced into attending a Bar Mitzvah ceremony, but otherwise her Shabbat was a big dinner.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

"The observers do not allege any verbal instruction or physical conduct that indicated one person was directing or coercing another regarding how to vote."

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

While preparing for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao is suing a restaurant server and his lawyers for “inflicting reputational damage and coercing payment.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026

At times “strategic ambiguity” can be a useful tool for coercing foes to act in certain ways or even to step down from power.

From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2025

In the current situation, “the legal argument for broadly coercing a state into doing what you want isn’t really different,” Boushey said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025

Equally ill-managed was the naval expedition, directed to support Russia, then in close alliance with Great Britain, by coercing the sultan into a rupture with France.

From The Political History of England - Vol XI From Addington's Administration to the close of William IV.'s Reign (1801-1837) by George C. (George Charles) Brodrick


Vocabulary lists containing coerce

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