1
as in to drive
to set or keep in motion
gasoline impels a car's engine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to compel
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impel
Both were impelled to launch ninth-inning pushes to persuade Oscar voters that Shakespeare wasn’t really in love and Private Ryan needed serious saving.
—
Peter Bart, Deadline, 8 Jan. 2026
Daniel’s commercial failure as a novelist impelled him to move to Los Angeles to try writing for the movies.
—David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
While the recent protests were sparked by the social media ban, protesters said that they had been impelled by years of government corruption and failure to provide young people with economic opportunities.
—Alia Shoaib, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Musk told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. had personally told him the use of Starlink technology by Ukraine’s resistance fighters could impel Moscow to respond with tactical nuclear weapons.
—Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impel
Peter Bart, Deadline, 8 Jan. 2026
Daniel’s commercial failure as a novelist impelled him to move to Los Angeles to try writing for the movies.
—David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
While the recent protests were sparked by the social media ban, protesters said that they had been impelled by years of government corruption and failure to provide young people with economic opportunities.
—Alia Shoaib, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Musk told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. had personally told him the use of Starlink technology by Ukraine’s resistance fighters could impel Moscow to respond with tactical nuclear weapons.
—Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impel
Verb
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The decision to inaugurate the first urban Six Senses property in Rome was partially driven by the owner’s love of all things Italian and is part of a new drive to bring sanctuaries to bigger cities.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
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Objects that are outdoors should be secured and caution should be taken if driving.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Discussions were had at those meetings, and every single thing that has happened has been compelled by council action.—
Jack Fink,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
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Even those who advocated for conservative positions were compelled to make their case in language amenable to the liberal sensibility.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Prisoners have been moved because of staffing, food, and capacity shortages at the facilities where they were being held.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
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The rain will start to clear out Sunday evening as the front moves through and begins to usher in drier, but cooler temperatures for next week.—
Bill Kelly,
CBS News,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The other key will be avoiding turnovers, as South Carolina is forcing more than 18 per game.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 Mar. 2026
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Soft, adjustable lighting, outdoor rain showers with peepholes framing the scenery, incredibly comfy poolside daybeds, super-crisp sheets, open-plan bathrooms with capacious closets—everything works, but nothing feels forced or superfluous.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The lefty underwent an elbow cleanup procedure at the start of the offseason; the Yankees hope to activate him sometime in April.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
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Like a grill, when activated by an operator, the drone stations open a lid.—
Dillon Thomas,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In the mid-twentieth century, the US government experimented on poor Black men in Tuskegee, Alabama, to understand the life-cycle of syphilis; the men were coerced into remaining in their study for decades despite the fact that the disease’s cure, penicillin, had been discovered.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Mar. 2026
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And the folks for whom Live Nation is able to really coerce a lot of their economic opportunities, the venues that are afraid to get sideways with Live Nation.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The astronauts will stick close to home for the first 25 hours of their 10-day test flight, checking out the capsule in orbit around Earth before firing the main engine that will propel them to the moon.—
Marcia Dunn,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2026
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Similarly, marquee events like Dak’Art and Recontres de Bamako (Bamako Encounters) have established themselves as launch pads, propelling African artists into international art markets and institutional circuits.—
Smooth Nzewi,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Europe’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) obligates foreign streaming services to invest a portion of their revenue into local productions, but leaves the modalities of this obligation to each individual country.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2026
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Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, argued Thursday that Supreme Court precedent made clear that the couple had a right to access funds Venezuela’s current leadership is willing and obligated to pay per the country’s laws.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impel. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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