forced
/fɔːst
/adjective
1Obtained or imposed by coercion or physical power: there was no sign of a forced entry...
- But the Police Reform Act 2002 had added in the power to require the forced resignation of a chief constable.
- We would probably not today know of police coercion, brutality, forced confessions and rigged trials.
- The French set up a bureaucracy to administer the colony and collected taxes and requisitioned forced labor.
Synonyms
enforced, compulsory, obligatory, mandatory, involuntary, exacted, coerced, imposed, demanded, compelled, required, requisite, stipulated, dictated, ordained, prescribed;
necessitated, unavoidable, inescapable;
French de rigueur
1.1(Of a plant) having its development or maturity artificially hastened.After you enjoy your forced bulbs one year, plant them into your garden to bloom the following year....
- Among the most commonly forced bulb flowers are amaryllis, paper-white narcissus, muscari and hyacinths.
- It's also possible to buy professionally forced bulb flowers in the spring to add to your containers.
2(Of a gesture or expression) produced or maintained with effort; affected or unnatural: a forced smile...
- There are some very forced and unnatural interpretations in this book.
- The people you meet there are all the same too, and underneath the forced smiles and jaded handshakes you detect great reservoirs of boredom.
- It took a second, and a forced effort, for everything to come back into focus.
Synonyms
strained, laboured, unnatural, artificial, false, feigned, simulated, contrived, stilted, wooden, stiff, studied, mannered, self-conscious, overdone, overworked, affected, unconvincing, insincere, hollow
informal phoney, pretend, pseudo, put on
Phrases
forced march