Podcast Summary: Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day – "duress"

Date: October 9, 2025
Host: Peter Sokolowski (for Merriam-Webster)
Episode Theme:
An exploration of the word “duress”—its definition, common contexts, historical roots, and a memorable real-world example.

Main Theme

The episode centers on the word “duress”—its meaning, usage, etymology, and differentiation from commonly confused terms. It also features a literary example illustrating the word in action.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Definition and Typical Usage (00:42)

• Duress is a noun, spelled D-U-R-E-S-S.
• Most commonly used with the preposition “under,” as in “under duress.”
• Definition: “Force or threats meant to make someone do something.”
• Particularly used in legal and formal contexts, signifying unlawful coercion.

Real-World Example: Toni Morrison & June Jordan (00:51)

• Host quotes from lithub.com:

  “Did you know that Toni Morrison also edited poetry? What couldn't she do? Despite inexperience with the medium, Morrison was an early champion of the poet June Jordan. She published one of her earliest collections, Things I Do in the Dark, in 1977. In a 1975 letter, Morrison told Jordan that Random House would publish her work, but only under duress. The answer they gave was, ‘We would prefer her prose; will do poetry if we must,’ she wrote. Now I would tell them to shove it if that were me.”
  — (00:53 - 01:19)

• Illustrates how “under duress” means acting reluctantly under pressure—here, a publisher agreeing to publish poetry primarily because of obligation rather than desire.

Differentiating “Duress” from “Stress” (01:21)

• Important Clarification:
  • “Under duress” is not the same as “under stress.”
  • Duress implies unlawful or forceful compulsion;
  • Stress is a general state of mental or emotional strain, much more common and less severe in connotation.

Etymological Origins (01:32)

• “Duress comes ultimately from the Latin adjective durus, meaning ‘hard.’”
• Durus also gave rise to words like durable and endure.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the meaning of duress:

  “Duress is most often paired with the word under to refer to force or threats meant to make someone do something. For example, someone forced to sign a document signs it under duress, and a person held under duress is not free to leave but is being constrained, usually unlawfully.”
  — Peter Sokolowski, 01:14

• On not confusing duress with stress:

  “Do not confuse being under duress with being under stress, which is a much more common occurrence.”
  — Peter Sokolowski, 01:21

• On origins:

  “Duress comes ultimately from the Latin adjective durus, meaning hard, source too of the words durable and endure.”
  — Peter Sokolowski, 01:32

Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:42 — Introduction and spelling of "duress"; definition and pairing with “under.”
• 00:51–01:19 — Literary example involving Toni Morrison and June Jordan; practical illustration of use.
• 01:14 — Expanded explanation of meaning and usage in legal or formal situations.
• 01:21 — Clarifies distinction between “duress” and “stress.”
• 01:32 — Word origins and related words.

Final Thought

Peter Sokolowski closes out with an invitation to explore more words, cementing “duress” as a word denoting coercion—a legal and formal term with roots reaching back to Latin, still highly relevant today.