noun
verb
Other Word Forms
- conscriptable adjective
- nonconscriptable adjective
Etymology
Origin of conscript
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin conscrīptus “enrolled,” past participle of conscrībere “to enroll, enlist”; conscribe ( def. )
Explanation
If you’re ever drafted into the army, then you could be called a conscript, someone who is forced to join the military. At the root of conscript is the Latin word conscriptus, meaning “enroll.” Conscript does involve enrollment — but it’s a forced enrollment, used to describe someone who has been forced to join the military, such as someone who has been drafted. As a verb, conscript means "force to join," like a military that conscripts new soldiers. In contrast, those who choose to join are recruited; when they enter the service, they enlist.
Vocabulary lists containing conscript
The American Civil War
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Ender's Game
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This Week in Words: January 27 - February 2, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Trudging through snow, a young Finnish conscript carefully draws a thin blue wire between two pine trees.
From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026
The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country.
From Seattle Times • May 18, 2024
Tired as Illia is, the idea of fighting alongside a petrified conscript in a trench is not an appealing one.
From BBC • May 6, 2024
He had not handled a gun since he was a teenage conscript in Hitler’s Wehrmacht at the end of World War II.
From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2023
Azareen, fierce and stoic as she was, had one of the prettiest tattoos Sarai had seen—done by Guldan, of course, who was now a conscript in Minya’s wretched army.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
