forcibly

Meanings

1. 1adverbnot comparable

   By using physical force or strong pressure against someone's will or resistance.

   Grammar: Goes with verbs of moving, removing or restraining: forcibly removed, forcibly detained.

   Patterns

   • forcibly remove someone
   • forcibly detained

   Security guards forcibly removed the protesters from the hall.

   The door was forcibly opened by the rescue team.

   He was forcibly returned to his home country.

2. 2adverbnot comparableformalfigurative

   In a way that is powerful and impossible to ignore, as of an idea or feeling.

   Grammar: Formal and figurative: the point was forcibly made.

   Patterns

   • forcibly struck by something

   The scale of the damage struck her forcibly when she saw the village.

   The author makes his argument forcibly and clearly.

Common combinations

forcibly removed

The squatters were forcibly removed by the police.

forcibly detained

Witnesses said the man was forcibly detained in the street.

forcibly displaced

Thousands of families were forcibly displaced during the conflict.

forcibly entered

The thieves forcibly entered the shop through a back window.

forcibly restrained

The patient had to be forcibly restrained for his own safety.

Synonyms and how they differ

forcefully

Forcefully describes energy or strength in speech and action, whereas forcibly means physical force was actually used against resistance.

violently

Violently suggests harmful, rough action, but forcibly can describe firm compulsion without cruelty.

by force

By force is a plain phrase for the same idea and sounds less formal than forcibly.

compulsorily

Compulsorily means required by rule or law, not necessarily by physical force.

Opposites

Word family

force noun

physical strength or power used against something

force verb

to make someone do something or to push open

forcible adjective

done by force

forceful adjective

strong and powerful in manner

Commonly confused: forcibly or forcefully?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “forcibly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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