Word of the Day:

October 9, 2025

duress

noun dur-RESS

What it Means

Duress, which is typically used with under, refers to force or threats meant to make someone do something. It is used especially of unlawful coercion.

// The defense asserts that the defendant’s confession was made under duress.

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Duress in Context

“Did you know that Toni [Morrison] also edited poetry? (What couldn’t she do!) Despite inexperience with the medium, Morrison was an early champion of the poet June Jordan. She published one of her earliest collections, Things I Do in the Dark, in 1977. In a 1975 letter, Morrison told Jordan that Random House would publish her work, but only under duress. ‘The answer they gave was “we would prefer her prose—will do poetry if we must,”’ she wrote. ‘Now I would tell them to shove it if that were me…’” — Brittany Allen, LitHub.com, 24 Apr. 2025

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Did You Know?

Duress is most often paired with the word under to refer to force or threats meant to make someone do something. For example, someone forced to sign a document signs it “under duress,” and a person held “under duress” is not free to leave but is being constrained, usually unlawfully. (Do not confuse being “under duress” with being “under stress,” which is a much more common occurrence.) Duress comes ultimately from the Latin adjective durus, meaning “hard,” source too of durable and endure.