Forced

How to spell forced

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce forced

What does forced mean?

1. verbMade someone or something do a thing through pressure, compulsion, or physical effort.
2. adjectiveProduced under compulsion or with obvious strain, rather than naturally or willingly.

Forced in a sentence

• verb

  The storm forced the airline to cancel every afternoon flight.

• adjective

  His forced smile told everyone the meeting had gone badly.

• verb

  She forced the swollen drawer open with a screwdriver.

• adjective

  The company faced accusations of using forced labour overseas.

Where does forced come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is the past form of the verb 'force', which English took from the Old French 'forcer', meaning 'to compel' or 'to exert strength'. That French verb grew out of the Vulgar Latin noun 'fortia', a collective sense of 'strength', which in turn came from the Latin adjective 'fortis', meaning 'strong' or 'powerful'. By the 1200s 'force' had settled into English with the idea of physical power applied to people or things, and the participle 'forced' followed naturally to describe something done under compulsion or strain. The same 'fortis' root sits behind a whole family of familiar relatives such as 'fort', 'fortify', 'effort' and 'comfort'. The spelling is mostly reliable, though the final cluster sounds like '-st' to the ear, which is the small trap to watch for.

How the word is built

• force (from Latin fortis: strong)
• -ed (past tense / adjective suffix)