Library / English Dictionary

COMPULSION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Using force to cause something to occur

Example:

they didn't have to use coercion

Synonyms:

coercion; compulsion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("compulsion" is a kind of...):

causation; causing (the act of causing something to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compulsion"):

constructive eviction; eviction (action by a landlord that compels a tenant to leave the premises (as by rendering the premises unfit for occupancy); no physical expulsion or legal process is involved)

Derivation:

compel (force somebody to do something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An urge to do or say something that might be better left undone or unsaid

Example:

he felt a compulsion to babble on about the accident

Synonyms:

compulsion; irresistible impulse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting goals

Hypernyms ("compulsion" is a kind of...):

irrational impulse (a strong spontaneous and irrational motivation)

Derivation:

compulsive (caused by or suggestive of psychological compulsion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions, even against your will

Example:

her compulsion to wash her hands repeatedly

Synonyms:

compulsion; obsession

Classified under:

Nouns denoting goals

Hypernyms ("compulsion" is a kind of...):

irrational motive (a motivation that is inconsistent with reason or logic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compulsion"):

onomatomania (obsession with a particular word which the person uses repeatedly or which intrudes into consciousness)

Derivation:

compulsive (a person with a compulsive disposition; someone who feels compelled to do certain things)

compulsive (caused by or suggestive of psychological compulsion)

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