con·script
ˈkän-ˌskript 
1
: enrolled into service by compulsion : drafted
2
: made up of conscripted persons
con·script
kən-ˈskript
conscripted; conscripting; conscripts
: to enroll into service by compulsion : draft
was conscripted into the army
Synonyms
Examples of conscript in a Sentence
Noun
as the war continued, the body of enlisted soldiers was supplemented by an increasing number of conscripts
Verb
The government is conscripting men for the army.
He was conscripted into the army.
Recent Examples on the Web
Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr. 2024
Most crucially, Zelensky said, Ukraine lacks the funds to pay so many new conscripts.
—Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
The Israeli soldiers guarding checkpoints are no longer regular army conscripts from different parts of Israel.
—Eleanor Beardsley, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
Fought in the spring of 1945, the battle killed roughly 12,000 Americans, 110,000 Japanese soldiers and conscripts and 100,000 Japanese civilians.
—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Mar. 2024
Three weeks later, a fellow conscript told his father that Andrei was in the hospital.
—Natalia Abbakumova, Washington Post, 14 Jan. 2024
The studies concluded that conscripts were responsible for infecting the armed forces with the social ills roiling 1960s America, such as drug abuse and racial tensions.
—Juan Quiroz, Foreign Affairs, 5 Jan. 2024
Zelensky has also said publicly that Ukraine lacks the funds to pay so many new conscripts.
—John Hudson, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2024
His father, Rahal, had been a conscript in the French army when Algeria was a French colony, and had fought in France’s colonial wars.
—Adam Nossiter, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2024
Anna Reid, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
Jin, who turned 30 earlier this month, entered the boot camp at Yeoncheon, a town near the tense border with North Korea, for five weeks of basic military training together with other new conscript soldiers, the Defense Ministry said.
—Time, 13 Dec. 2022
Women mourn the death of their family member and conscript soldier Gasanbek Agabekov, who was killed in Ukraine the 27th of May, in Aglobi, Dagestan, Russia, on June 16.
—Time, 23 Nov. 2022
Still, Russia’s proxy leaders there have had to forcibly conscript soldiers as casualties have risen.
—Marc Santora, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Sep. 2022
The Cold War-era law lets the federal government conscript private businesses to produce goods for national defense and to reorder supply chains, putting some customers ahead of others.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 19 May 2022
Morale is perhaps the largest issue, with conscript troops abandoning vehicles and vanishing into forests.
—Benjamin H. Friedman, The Week, 20 Mar. 2022
The gang is known to forcibly conscript migrants as mules—and sometimes dispose of them.
—Jason Motlagh, Outside Online, 19 July 2016
Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024
At the beginning of World War I, poor Black Malawians, many of them abused and mistreated, were being conscripted to fight the Germans.
—Mark Jenkins, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
Parents have been calling the organization’s central office in Stockholm, concerned their children could be conscripted to fight for NATO.
—Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2024
His grandfather was the village chief and one of the African soldiers conscripted by France to fight in World War I before he was badly wounded in battle.
—Ruth MacLean, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
De Waal highlighted the very immediate consequence of the RSF conscripting farmers and traders as fighters amid the hunger crisis.
—Pallabi Munsi, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024
This was provisioned under the corvée system, in which all Egyptians under the rank of official could be conscripted by the state to work on public projects, taking on tasks like tilling fields, mining quarries, and building temples and tombs.
—Kate McMahon, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Druze men over 18 have been conscripted to the IDF since 1957 and often rise to positions of high rank, while many build careers in the police and security forces.
—Lianne Kolirin, CNN, 21 Feb. 2024
The brother was conscripted into the army but managed to get out.
—David Woods, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Jan. 2024
Noun
Without it, conscripts are a burden rather than a boon – freezing in the heat of battle or suffering mental breakdowns.
—Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr. 2024
Most crucially, Zelensky said, Ukraine lacks the funds to pay so many new conscripts.
—Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
The Israeli soldiers guarding checkpoints are no longer regular army conscripts from different parts of Israel.
—Eleanor Beardsley, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
Fought in the spring of 1945, the battle killed roughly 12,000 Americans, 110,000 Japanese soldiers and conscripts and 100,000 Japanese civilians.
—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Mar. 2024
Three weeks later, a fellow conscript told his father that Andrei was in the hospital.
—Natalia Abbakumova, Washington Post, 14 Jan. 2024
The studies concluded that conscripts were responsible for infecting the armed forces with the social ills roiling 1960s America, such as drug abuse and racial tensions.
—Juan Quiroz, Foreign Affairs, 5 Jan. 2024
Zelensky has also said publicly that Ukraine lacks the funds to pay so many new conscripts.
—John Hudson, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2024
His father, Rahal, had been a conscript in the French army when Algeria was a French colony, and had fought in France’s colonial wars.
—Adam Nossiter, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2024
Adjective
The Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky’s talent as a military organizer gradually turned the ragtag collection of volunteer Red militias into a regular conscript army, and by the fall of 1920, the Whites were thoroughly defeated and dislodged from most Russian territory.
—Anna Reid, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
Jin, who turned 30 earlier this month, entered the boot camp at Yeoncheon, a town near the tense border with North Korea, for five weeks of basic military training together with other new conscript soldiers, the Defense Ministry said.
—Time, 13 Dec. 2022
Women mourn the death of their family member and conscript soldier Gasanbek Agabekov, who was killed in Ukraine the 27th of May, in Aglobi, Dagestan, Russia, on June 16.
—Time, 23 Nov. 2022
Still, Russia’s proxy leaders there have had to forcibly conscript soldiers as casualties have risen.
—Marc Santora, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Sep. 2022
The Cold War-era law lets the federal government conscript private businesses to produce goods for national defense and to reorder supply chains, putting some customers ahead of others.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 19 May 2022
Morale is perhaps the largest issue, with conscript troops abandoning vehicles and vanishing into forests.
—Benjamin H. Friedman, The Week, 20 Mar. 2022
The gang is known to forcibly conscript migrants as mules—and sometimes dispose of them.
—Jason Motlagh, Outside Online, 19 July 2016
Verb
Meanwhile, a draft law in parliament to widen the parameters of who can be conscripted has undergone thousands of amendments.
—Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024
At the beginning of World War I, poor Black Malawians, many of them abused and mistreated, were being conscripted to fight the Germans.
—Mark Jenkins, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
Parents have been calling the organization’s central office in Stockholm, concerned their children could be conscripted to fight for NATO.
—Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2024
His grandfather was the village chief and one of the African soldiers conscripted by France to fight in World War I before he was badly wounded in battle.
—Ruth MacLean, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
De Waal highlighted the very immediate consequence of the RSF conscripting farmers and traders as fighters amid the hunger crisis.
—Pallabi Munsi, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024
This was provisioned under the corvée system, in which all Egyptians under the rank of official could be conscripted by the state to work on public projects, taking on tasks like tilling fields, mining quarries, and building temples and tombs.
—Kate McMahon, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Druze men over 18 have been conscripted to the IDF since 1957 and often rise to positions of high rank, while many build careers in the police and security forces.
—Lianne Kolirin, CNN, 21 Feb. 2024
The brother was conscripted into the army but managed to get out.
—David Woods, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conscript.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near conscript
Cite this Entry
“Conscript.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscript. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
conscript
1 of 3 adjective
con·script
ˈkän-ˌskript
1
: enrolled into service by force
2
: made up of conscripted persons
conscript
2 of 3 verb
con·script
kən-ˈskript
: to enroll into service by force : draft
was conscripted into the army
conscription
noun
kən-ˈskrip-shən
conscript
3 of 3 noun
con·script
ˈkän-ˌskript
: a conscripted person (as a military recruit)
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