in force

1. 1.

   exerting force or influence

   “the law is effective immediately”

   “a warranty good for two years”

   “the law is already in effect (or in force)”

   Synonymseffectivegoodin effect

   Similaroperative

Questions about in force

What does in force mean?

in force means "exerting force or influence".

What is another word for in force?

Close synonyms include effective, good, in effect. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is in force a common word?

in force is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.