Synonyms

perforce

American

[per-fawrs, -fohrs] / pərˈfɔrs, -ˈfoʊrs /

adverb

of necessity; necessarily; by force of circumstance.

The story must perforce be true.

perforce British

/ pəˈfɔːs /

adverb

by necessity; unavoidably

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of perforce

1300–50; per + force; replacing Middle English par force < Middle French

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.

That was a closed-loop cemetery system: the nonnative Americans living here were perforce Spanish and Mexican, and Catholic, and often buried in mission graveyards.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2024

Methane is a carbon-based molecule, so many of the ingredients for life are perforce there.

From Scientific American • Jul. 6, 2023

Doing so, perforce, would also crush the rebels’ claim that the national government was powerless to halt slavery’s growth and commence its extinction.

From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2020

And even when there is, it would tell you nothing, because the same number of people, perforce, bought.

From Washington Post • Feb. 9, 2018

To advocate placing such information in the public record, Strauss asserted, was perforce an act of disloyalty.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023