compulsion

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an urge to do or say something that might be better left undone or unsaid
noun an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions, even against your will
noun using force to cause something to occur

Borrowed from Middle French compulsion, from Late Latin compulsiō, from Latin compellere (“to compel, coerce”); see compel.

It was a sign of deep compulsion. — Life Blood, Thomas Hoover
2161 for nede sogt, sought, come by compulsion. — The Story of Genesis and Exodus: An Early English Song, about 1250 A.D., Unknown
To my thinking the surest and most direct method is--compulsion. — The Duel and Other Stories, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

irresistible impulse

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning