Adjective

(en adjective)

Of or pertaining to the process of selection.(rfex)

(of a person) choosy, fussy or discriminating when selecting.

He's very selective and spent hours in the store choosing a new shirt.

(chiefly, US, not comparable) Having the authority or capability to make a selection.

In the USA, military conscription is controlled by the Selective Service.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Required; obligatory; mandatory.

* 1827 , A. D. Jr., Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal , A. and C. Black, page 212:

They are entirely private concerns, established by individual teachers, and attendance upon them is no more compulsory than attendance on our dispensaries.

* 1996 , (Ugo Pagano), Democracy and Efficiency in the Economic Enterprise , page 73:

Some might agree that membership in the firm is perhaps more compulsory than membership in a municipality, but balk at applying the analogy to the nation.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)

, volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}

Having the power of compulsion; constraining.