Impelling

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɪmˈpɛlɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Producing a strong drive that encourages someone to take action or compelling them to make a movement happen
2. Instilling a sense of urgency that forces an individual to act or pushing someone with intensity toward a specific outcome
3. Creating a forceful influence that drives or motivates a person to move or act

Etymology: "Impelling" is simply the present participle of "impel," which English took from Latin "impellere," meaning "to drive against" or "to push forward." The Latin verb is built from "in-," "into" or "against," and "pellere," "to drive" or "to push," the same root that gives English "expel" and "propel." The word reached Middle English as "impellen," and its literal sense of physically shoving something along has largely given way to the figurative sense of pushing a person toward a decision or course of action. That shift is the whole story of the adjective. Its meaning, "strongly motivating action," describes a force that acts on the mind rather than the body, so a "impelling reason" is one that drives someone to act. The word carries the Latin image of pressure from behind, transferred from a shove to a sense of inner compulsion.

Synonyms: driving, compelling, urging, propelling, motivating

Antonyms: dissuading, deterring, discouraging, impeding, hindering