Word.ws English Dictionary

compulsions

compulsions is the plural of compulsion.

Meaning of compulsion

Noun

compulsion (countable and uncountable, plural compulsions)

  1. An irrational need or irresistible urge to perform some action, often despite negative consequences.
    • During the basketball game, I had a sudden compulsion to have a smoke.
  2. The use of authority, influence, or other power to force (compel) a person or persons to act.
    • From the opening of the City & South London Railway independent electric locomotives were used under compulsion of the Board of Trade.1941 May, “Jubilee of the City Tube”, in Railway Magazine, page 223
  3. The lawful use of violence (i.e. by the administration).

Questions about compulsions

What is compulsions the plural of?
Compulsions is the plural of compulsion.

Words near compulsions in the dictionary

  1. compulsion loop
  2. compulsion loops
  3. compulsion neurosis
  4. compulsional
  5. compulsionary
  6. compulsions
  7. compulsitor
  8. compulsitors
  9. compulsive
  10. compulsive behaviour
  11. compulsive behaviours

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: compulsions (page history and authors); compulsion (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “compulsions.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/compulsions. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.