impel

Definition

To urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation.

Etymology

From Middle English impellen, borrowed from Latin impellō.

Example Sentences

• "She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher."
• "I feel impelled to reply to Roger Henry's letter about my article on being denied an apartment. I truly resent any insinuation that I "slunk back into that rotting old closet.""
• "Concern for the common good should impel us to find ways to overcome the devilish impact of these disastrous policies […]"

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