Definition of coercion in English:

noun

• The practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

  ‘our problem cannot be solved by any form of coercion but only by agreement’

  More example sentences

  • ‘He denied he had made the confession under coercion and threat, as alleged by his father.’
  • ‘There is also a belief that worker performance is based on either rewards offered by management or the threat of coercion.’
  • ‘If psychiatry is to move forward it is necessary, but not sufficient, to resist state coercion and to listen to patients.’
  • ‘This is really your opportunity to be yourself, to do something without coercion from others.’
  • ‘He refused to speculate as to the identity of the groups or individuals who had been behind the coercion.’

  Synonyms

  force, compulsion, constraint, duress, oppression, enforcement, harassment, intimidation, threats, insistence, demand, arm-twisting, pressure, pressurization, influence

  View synonyms