peer pressure

noun

Inducement or influence by one's peers.

“He was peer-pressured into taking drugs.”

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Meanings

nounpeer pressure (usually uncountable, plural peer pressures)

plural peer pressures

  1. uncountableusuallyInducement or influence by one's peers.

    She vowed to give up drinking during the exam period, but eventually succumbed to peer pressure and was out drinking with her friends within a week of the resolution.

    1 more example

    A successful response uses social forces such as peer pressure and altruism to help people adapt to changing circumstances. It delivers messages and support that promote self-reliance rather than encourage people to fall back on stressed state support.

    2020 April 9, Ian Boyd, “We practised for a pandemic, but didn’t brace”, in Nature, volume 580, number 7802, page 9
verbpeer pressure (third-person singular simple present peer pressures, present participle peer pressuring, simple past and past participle peer pressured)

present singular third person peer pressures · participle present peer pressuring · participle past peer pressured · past peer pressured

  1. informaltransitiveTo induce or influence one's peers.

    He was peer-pressured into taking drugs.

Origin

From peer + pressure. First use appears c. 1957 in the publications of Ruth Strang.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 同儕壓力 /同侪压力
  • 同儕壓力 /同侪压力 (tóngchái yālì)inducement by one's peers
Dutch groepsdruk
  • groepsdrukinducement by one's peers
Finnish ryhmäpaine
  • ryhmäpaineinducement by one's peers
French pression des pairs, pression sociale
  • pression des pairsinducement by one's peers
  • pression socialeinducement by one's peers
German Gruppenzwang
  • Gruppenzwanginducement by one's peers
Hungarian csoportnyomás
  • csoportnyomásinducement by one's peers
Icelandic hópþrýstingur
  • hópþrýstingurinducement by one's peers
Japanese 同調圧力
  • 同調圧力 (dōchōatsuryoku)inducement by one's peers
Polish presja rówieśnicza
  • presja rówieśniczainducement by one's peers
Spanish presión de los pares, presión social
  • presión de los paresinducement by one's peers
  • presión socialinducement by one's peers
  • presión de parte de los congéneresinducement by one's peers
  • presión de parte de los coetáneosinducement by one's peers
Swedish grupptryck
  • grupptryckinducement by one's peers
Turkish mahalle baskisi
  • mahalle baskisiinducement by one's peers
Cite this entry
APA

peer pressure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peer%20pressure

MLA

“peer pressure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peer%20pressure. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “peer pressure,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peer%20pressure.

Source: peer pressure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.