Meaning & use

forced

adjective·Everyday

Done unwillingly or under pressure, or appearing unnatural and strained.

See it in a sentence

Her forced smile revealed how uncomfortable she felt at the reunion.

The company made forced layoffs after losing its biggest client.

A note on using this word

Forced describing behavior, such as a forced laugh, means it looks fake, while forced describing an action, such as forced retirement, means it was not chosen freely.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

naturalvoluntary

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