coercive
/kəʊˈɜː(ɹ)sɪv/adjective
coercive is spelled C-O-E-R-C-I-V-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, coercive means “Displaying a tendency or intent to coerce” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in coercive?
| Letters | 8: C-O-E-R-C-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,649th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is coercive?
Coercive appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce coercive?
- /kəʊˈɜː(ɹ)sɪv/
Coercive has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-coercive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of coercive
- more coercive comparative
- most coercive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does coercive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Displaying a tendency or intent to coerce.
- 2
Such that the ratio of |F(x)| to x approaches infinity as x approaches infinity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Coercive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense displaying a tendency to coerce:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | coercif, coercitif |
| German | zwingend |
| Portuguese | coercivo, coercitivo |
| Spanish | coercitivo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does coercive come from?
From coerce + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).