Meanings
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of compel
comparative more compelling · superlative most compelling
- very interesting; able to capture and hold one's attention
The novel was so compelling that I couldn't put it down.
1 more example
The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about "creating compelling content", or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing", "share the things you love with the world" and so on.
2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27Synonyms: gripping
- capable of causing someone to believe or agree
He made a compelling argument.
1 more example
Terry's goal looked to have put Chelsea in control on the stroke of half-time but Arsenal's response presented a compelling case for Wenger's insistence that reports of his side's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal”, in BBC SportSynonyms: convincing
plural compellings
- An act of compulsion; an obliging somebody to do something.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivevery interesting; able to capture and hold one's attention
adjectivecapable of causing someone to believe or agree
adjectivestrong and forceful; that causes one to feel like they must do something
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivedriving or forcing
adjectivetending to persuade by forcefulness of argument
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By surface analysis, compel + -ing.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian наложителен, непреодолим
- наложителен (naložitelen)able to capture and hold one's attention
- непреодолим (nepreodolim)strong
- неустоим (neustoim)strong
Dutch dwingend, meeslepend
- dwingendable to capture and hold one's attention
- meeslependable to capture and hold one's attention
Finnish pakottava, vangitseva
- pakottavaable to capture and hold one's attention
- vangitsevastrong
- vastustamatonstrong
- mukaansatempaavastrong
German zwingend, fesselnd
- zwingendable to capture and hold one's attention
- fesselndable to capture and hold one's attention
- unwiderstehlichable to capture and hold one's attention
- überwältigendstrong
- unwiderstehlichstrong
- fesselndstrong
- hinreißendstrong
Hungarian impozáns, hathatós
- impozánsable to capture and hold one's attention
- hathatósable to capture and hold one's attention
- magával ragadóable to capture and hold one's attention
- ellenállhatatlanable to capture and hold one's attention
- kényszerítőable to capture and hold one's attention
- minden kétséget kizáróable to capture and hold one's attention
- erőteljesstrong
- elsöprőstrong
- hatalmasstrong
Italian avvincente, appassionante
- avvincenteable to capture and hold one's attention
- appassionanteable to capture and hold one's attention
- coinvolgenteable to capture and hold one's attention
- entusiasmantestrong
- convincentestrong
- persuasivostrong
Latin cōgēns
- cōgēnsstrong
Russian безотлага́тельный, неотло́жный
- безотлага́тельный (bezotlagátelʹnyj)able to capture and hold one's attention
- неотло́жный (neotlóžnyj)able to capture and hold one's attention
Spanish de peso, compeliente
- de pesoable to capture and hold one's attention
- compelienteable to capture and hold one's attention
- compeledorable to capture and hold one's attention
- compelidorable to capture and hold one's attention
Turkish ilgi uyandırıcı, zorlayıcı
- ilgi uyandırıcıable to capture and hold one's attention
- zorlayıcıstrong
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with compelling
Cite this entry
compelling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compelling
“compelling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compelling. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “compelling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compelling.
Source: compelling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.