IMPELS Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

impels

verb

present tense third-person singular of impel

as in drives

to set or keep in motion gasoline impels a car's engine

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as in compels

to cause (a person) to give in to pressure I felt impelled to tell the truth, however painful it might be

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of impels And so, our mission – grounded in both truth and love – impels us to discern the motives that shape events, and the shifts in thought that drive human progress through higher ideals of justice, mercy, and wisdom. — Christa Case Bryant, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Mar. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for impels

Verb

Reuse drives the design That reusable architecture could be just as important as the rocket’s lower unit cost.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026
The science behind rare disease drug development is changing fast, and with it, so is the financial engine that drives it all.

— Brad Quick, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of drives

Verb

The deal compels Facebook and Instagram to adopt new child-safety rules, including daily time caps, school-hour notification bans, stronger age checks and expanded parental controls aimed at harmful content.

— Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Washington also opposed another streaming regulation, known as Bill 109, passed in Quebec last December, which compels streaming platforms to prioritize French-language content.

— Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of compels

Verb

Areas farther east could see greater impacts if the center moves toward the Sabine Pass area, as some forecast guidance currently suggests.

— Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026
In training camp, Steward worked at nickel and at safety, but the personnel moves around the secondary have factored him out.

— Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of moves

Verb

Coyote first hoodwinks and then forces Kevin into his lawsuit plans, taking Acme to task in a way the corporation, confident in its imperviousness, finds laughable.

— Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
That forces them to interact with unknown adults that are outside the jurisdiction of the school.

— Michele Gile, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of forces

Verb

However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025
Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025

Definition of coerces

Verb

His attempt to discover what he is supposed to be doing propels him through a succession of increasingly strange encounters, as his search for purpose becomes entangled with his desire for love, friendship and some kind of place in the world.

— Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 28 Aug. 2026
This is partly what propels his mole demi-glace, a convergence of inspirations realized in a duck and smoked chicken stock sharpened by the foundational components of mole.

— Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of propels

Verb

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 obligates Washington to measure and reduce regulatory burdens.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026
Zeus’s Law obligates Telemachus and Odysseus’s wife Penelope to host the suitors who hope to marry her in Odysseus’s absence.

— Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 16 July 2026

Definition of obligates

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impelling

impels

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“Impels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impels. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of impels

verb

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