Compel vs Justify - What's the difference?
compel | justify |
(transitive, archaic, literally) To drive together, round up (rfex)
To overpower; to subdue.
* 1917 , , King Coal , ch. 16,
To force, constrain or coerce.
* 1600 , , Julius Caesar , act 5, sc. 1,
* Hallam
To exact, extort, (make) produce by force.
* Shakespeare
* 1912 , , Sky Island , ch. 14,
(obsolete) To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
* Dryden
* Tennyson
(obsolete) To gather or unite in a crowd or company.
* Dryden
(obsolete) To call forth; to summon.
* Spenser
To provide an acceptable explanation for.
To be a good, acceptable reason for; warrant.
* E. Everett
To arrange (text) on a page or a computer screen such that the left and right ends of all lines within paragraphs are aligned.
To absolve, and declare to be free of blame or sin
* Shakespeare
* Bible, Acts xiii. 39
To prove; to ratify; to confirm.
In lang=en terms the difference between compel and justify
is that compel is to exact, extort, (make) produce by force while justify is to absolve, and declare to be free of blame or sin.As verbs the difference between compel and justify
is that compel is (transitive|archaic|literally) to drive together, round up while justify is to provide an acceptable explanation for.compel
English
Verb
- She had one of those perfect faces, which irresistibly compel the soul of a man.
- Logic compels''' the wise, while fools feel '''compelled by emotions.
- Against my will, / As Pompey was, am I compell’d to set / Upon one battle all our liberties.
- Wolsey compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once.
- Commissions, which compel from each / The sixth part of his substance.
- The Queen has nothing but the power to execute the laws, to adjust grievances and to compel order.
- Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled .
- I compel all creatures to my will.
- in one troop compelled
- She had this knight from far compelled .
- (Chapman)
Derived terms
* compellable * compeller * compelling * compellation * compel testimonyReferences
* * * Random House Webster’s Unabridged Electronic Dictionary , 1987-1996. English control verbs English transitive verbsjustify
English
Alternative forms
* justifie (obsolete)Verb
- How can you justify spending so much money on clothes?
- Paying too much for car insurance is not justified .
- Nothing can justify your rude behaviour last night.
- Unless the oppression is so extreme as to justify' revolution, it would not ' justify the evil of breaking up a government.
- The text will look better justified .
- I cannot justify whom the law condemns.
- By him all that believe are justified' from all things, from which ye could not be ' justified by the law of Moses.
- (Shakespeare)