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enforcer

noun

Simple meaning

A hired strongman.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ehnfawrser

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɛnˈfɔɹsɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A hired strongman, especially working for the underworld.

  2. One who enforces.

  3. The member of a group, especially of a gang, charged with keeping dissident members obedient.

  4. uk

    A battering ram used by the emergency services for gaining access to locked premises.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A hired strongman, especially working for the underworld.

Used this way, enforcer is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

law enforcerchief enforcerrule enforcerpolicy enforcerparty enforcerprimary enforcerultimate enforcermob enforcer

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • enforceverbBase word

    Ensure observance of laws and rules.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • enforcementnounDerived noun

    The act of enforcing.

  • enforceableadjectiveDerived adjective

    Capable of being enforced.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.