Compulsion
Compulsion noun - The use of power to impose one's will on another.
Drive is a synonym for compulsion in urge topic. In some cases you can use "Drive" instead a noun "Compulsion", when it comes to topics like obsession.
Drive
Drive noun - A strong wish for something.
Usage example: a drive to succeed in the television news business
Compulsion is a synonym for drive in obsession topic. You can use "Compulsion" instead a noun "Drive".
How words are described
Both words in one sentence
- In City Slickers, Mitch calls Ed out on his compulsion to succeed, culminating in him trying to do something he's ill-equipped to do—drive a herd of cattle—in his determination to prove that he's better than the father who abused and eventually abandoned him and his sister and mother.
Source: I Am Not My Father
Cite this Source
Drive and Compulsion. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/compulsion/drive
Compulsion & Drive. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/compulsion/drive>.
Drive or Compulsion. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/compulsion/drive.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "compulsion" and "drive" have occurred on timeline