coercion

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: co=er=cion

CIDE DICTIONARY

coercion, n. [L. coercio, fr. coercere. See Coerce.].

•  The act or process of coercing.  [1913 Webster]
•  The application to another of either physical or moral force. When the force is physical, and cannot be resisted, then the act produced by it is a nullity, so far as concerns the party coerced. When the force is moral, then the act, though voidable, is imputable to the party doing it, unless he be so paralyzed by terror as to act convulsively. At the same time coercion is not negatived by the fact of submission under force. “Coactus volui” (I consented under compulsion) is the condition of mind which, when there is volition forced by coercion, annuls the result of such coercion.  Wharton.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

coercion, n.
1 the act or process of coercing.
2 government by force.

Derivative

coercive adj. coercively adv. coerciveness n.

Etymology

OF cohercion, -tion f. L coer(c)tio, coercitio -onis (as COERCE)

THESAURUS

coercion

argumentum baculinum, compulsion, constraint, duress, high pressure, intimidation, menace, menacing, pressure, strong-arm tactics, the big stick, the bludgeon, the club, the jackboot, the mailed fist, the strong arm, the sword, threat, threatening, violence

ROGET THESAURUS

coercion

Severity

N severity, strictness, harshness, rigor, stringency, austerity, inclemency, arrogance, precisianism, arbitrary power, absolutism, despotism, dictatorship, autocracy, tyranny, domineering, oppression, assumption, usurpation, inquisition, reign of terror, martial law, iron heel, iron rule, iron hand, iron sway, tight grasp, brute force, brute strength, coercion, strong hand, tight hand, hard lines, hard measure, tender mercies, sharp practice, pipe-clay, officialism, tyrant, disciplinarian, precisian, martinet, stickler, bashaw, despot, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy, vulture, accipitres, birds of prey, raptorials, raptors, severe, strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell, relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative, coercive, tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial, inclement, cruel, haughty, arrogant, precisian, severely, with a high hand, with a strong hand, with a tight hand, with a heavy hand, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi, manu forti, ogni debole ha sempre il suo tiranno.

Compulsion

N compulsion, coercion, coaction, constraint, duress, enforcement, press, conscription, force, brute force, main force, physical force, the sword, ultima ratio, club law, lynch law, mob law, arguementum baculinum, le droit du plus fort, martial law, restraint, necessity, force majeure, Hobson's choice, compelling, coercive, coactive, inexorable, compulsory, compulsatory, obligatory, stringent, peremptory, forcible, not to be trifled with, irresistible, compelled, fain to, by force, by force of arms, on compulsion, perforce, vi et armis, under the lash, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, forcibly, by a strong arm, under protest, in spite of one's teeth, against one's will, nolens volens, by stress of circumstances, by stress of weather, under press of, de rigueur, with a gun to one's head, I'll make him an offer he can't refuse.

Restraint

N restraint, hindrance, coercion, cohibition, constraint, repression, suppression, discipline, control, confinement, durance, duress, imprisonment, incarceration, coarctation, entombment, mancipation, durance vile, limbo, captivity, blockade, arrest, arrestation, custody, keep, care, charge, ward, restringency, curb, lettres de cachet, limitation, restriction, protection, monopoly, prohibition, prisoner, repressionist, restrained, constrained, imprisoned, pent up, jammed in, wedged in, under lock and key, under restraint, under hatches, in swaddling clothes, on parole, in custody, doing time, cohibitive, coactive, stiff, restringent, strait-laced, hidebound, barkbound, ice bound, wind bound, weather bound, cabined cribbed confined, in Lob's pound, laid by the heels.