perforce

P3E1R1F4O1R1C3E1
UK/pəˈfɔːs/US/pɚˈfɔɹs/

adverb

By constraint of circumstances; of necessity; as a matter of course.

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

adverbperforce (not comparable)
  1. not comparableBy constraint of circumstances; of necessity; as a matter of course.

    Accordingly work perforce had to be begun. The first sod was cut at Anley, near Settle, in November, 1869, […]

    1939 July, John D. Hewitt, “Some Notable British Main Lines: 1. Settle and Carlisle, L.M.S.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 35
    5 more examples

    Mr. Wickham's happiness and her own were perforce delayed a little longer, and Mr. Collins's proposal accepted with as good a grace as she could..

    1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 17, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC

    "Keep fast thy hold, for by such stairs as these," The Master said, panting as one fatigued, "Must we perforce depart from so much evil."

    1882, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Inferno, canto 34

    So, bevelling around by Mullett's and the Signal House which they shortly reached, they proceeded perforce in the direction of Amiens street railway terminus

    1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC

    It was by no means pleasant to realize that there was an unknown number of menaces up there over your head, quietly circling and circling until someone should arrange for them to drop - and that there was nothing to be done about them. Still, life has to go on - and novelty is a wonderfully short-lived thing. One became used to the idea perforce.

    1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 28

    Adult immigrants must perforce learn some English, and their children are likely to become English monolinguals.

    2006, Alejandro Portes, Rubén G. Rumbaut, Immigrant America: A Portrait, 3rd edition, page 239

    Synonyms: perforcely, perforcedly, necessarily, obligatorily, obligately, mandatorily, unavoidably, inevitably

  2. archaicnot comparableBy force.

    If ſhe denie, Lord Hastings goe with him, And from her iealous Armes pluck him perforce.

    c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]
    1 more example

    For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require My dukedom of thee, which, perforce, I know Thou must restore.

    1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]
verbperforce (third-person singular simple present perforces, present participle perforcing, simple past and past participle perforced)

present singular third person perforces · participle present perforcing · participle past perforced · past perforced

  1. obsoleteTo force; to compel.

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbBy constraint of circumstances; of necessity; as a matter of course.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchpar force“by force”
  2. Middle Englishpar force
  3. Englishperforce

From Middle English par force, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French par force (“by force”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian по необходимост
  • по необходимост (po neobhodimost)necessarily
Catalan per força, forçosament
  • per forçanecessarily
  • forçosamentnecessarily
Esperanto nepre
  • neprenecessarily
French nécessairement, forcément
  • nécessairementnecessarily
  • forcémentby force
Italian per forza, forzatamente
  • per forzanecessarily
  • forzatamenteby force
Polish siłą rzeczy, siłą rzeczy
  • siłą rzeczynecessarily
  • siłą rzeczyby force
  • z koniecznościby force
Russian во́лей-нево́лей, нево́лей
  • во́лей-нево́лей (vólej-nevólej)necessarily
  • нево́лей (nevólej)by force
Scottish Gaelic air èiginn
  • air èiginnby force
Spanish por fuerza, de juro
  • por fuerzanecessarily
  • de juronecessarily
  • por fuerzaby force
  • por la fuerzaby force
  • a la fuerzaby force

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with perforce

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

perforce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perforce

MLA

“perforce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perforce. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “perforce,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perforce.

Source: perforce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.