forcible
Part of speech: adj
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: From Middle English forcible, forsable, from Old French forcible, from forcier (“to conquer by force”), equivalent to force + -ible.
Base: force
Affixes: -ible
Inflected forms:
form: more forcible
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most forcible
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Done by force, forced.
pos: adj
examples: I fled; but he pursued (though more, it seems, / Inflamed with lust than rage), and, swifter far, / Me overtook, his mother, all dismayed, / And, in embraces forcible and foul / Engendering with me, of that rape begot / These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry / Surround me, as thou saw'st—
The forcible administration of poison is by no means a new thing in criminal annals.
Since the forcible ejection of pugilist Siki from the New York Bar in Paris, discussion of Negro rights has become serious.
2008, U.S. Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States
Forcible rape, as defined in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, is the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Attempts or assaults to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape (without force) and other sex offenses are excluded.
gloss: Having (physical) force, forceful.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
rare
examples: […] he drew her to him, laid a forcible detaining arm about her waist, and misapprehended her frantic revolt for an exhibition of maidenly reluctance.
gloss: Having a powerful effect; forceful, telling, strong, convincing, effective.
pos: adj
examples: But that which hath been once most sufficient, may wax otherwise by alteration of time and place; that punishment which hath been sometimes forcible to bridle sin, may grow afterwards too weak and feebled.
Thou hast frighted the word out of his right sense, so forcible is thy wit.
How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
1859, Francis Bacon, Historia Densi et Rari (1623), translated by James Spedding and Robert Leslie Ellis, in The Philosophical Works of Francis Bacon, edited by James Spedding, London: Longman & Co., 1861, Vol. II, section 388, p. 470,
Sweet smells are most forcible in dry substances, when broken; and so likewise in oranges or lemons, the nipping off their rind giveth out their smell more […]
[...] indeed, it is seldom that a week passes but that we receive forcible reminders of the lynx-eyed scrutiny to which each successive issue is subjected by the experts.
They all jumped up, shaking the water out of their ears and wringing their little blankets, and asked the Giant in shrill but forcible voices whether he thought they weren’t wet enough without this sort of thing.
gloss: Able to be forced.
pos: adj
examples: […] it seems that an entry is not forcible by the bare drawing up a latch, or pulling back the bolt of a door, there being no appearance therein of its being done by strong hand, or multitude of people; […]
But an entry may be forcible, not only in respect of a violence actually done to the person of a man, but also in respect of any other kind of violence in the manner of the entry, as by breaking open the doors of a house […]
Related words: forceable
Derived words: forcible entry
forcible-feeble
forcibleness
forcibly
nonforcible
unforcible
Translations: