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Compulsion vs Mandatory - What's the difference?

compulsion | mandatory |

As nouns the difference between compulsion and mandatory

is that compulsion is obsession while mandatory is (dated|rare) a person, organisation or state who receives a mandate; a mandatary.

As an adjective mandatory is

obligatory; required or commanded by authority.

compulsion

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An irrational need to perform some action, often despite negative consequences.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].}}
  • The use of authority, influence, or other power to force (compel) a person or persons to act.
  • The lawful use of violence (i.e. by the administration).

    • Related terms

    * compulsive * compulsory

    External links

    * *

    mandatory

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Obligatory; required or commanded by authority.
    • Attendance at a school is usually mandatory .
  • * 1999 , Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind , page 276
    • This kind of immediate control structure we take to be characteristic of the tribe, and it leads to a rather rigid type of system in which 'every action not mandatory is forbidden'.
  • Of, being or relating to a mandate.
    • Mandatory Palestine

    Synonyms

    * compulsory * obligatory

    Antonyms

    * (obligatory) optional * (obligatory) elective

    Derived terms

    * mandatoriness

    Noun

    (mandatories)
  • (dated, rare) A person, organisation or state who receives a mandate; a mandatary.

    • External links

    * * * Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary * The Oxford English Dictionary

    Anagrams

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