مجبور

What it means

مجبور (majbur) comes from the Arabic root ج-ب-ر (j-b-r), which carries the meanings of compulsion, coercion, and also repair or correction (the same root gives Persian جبر, meaning algebra and, in philosophy, determinism or compulsion). In Persian مجبور is the standard word for someone who is forced, compelled, or without a real choice. It functions predicatively: you say someone مجبور است (is forced) or مجبور شد (became forced, i.e. ended up having no choice). The compound مجبور بودن describes a state of ongoing compulsion, while مجبور شدن describes the moment of being pushed into something. The simple first-person مجبورم (I have no choice) is one of the most commonly heard constructions in everyday speech.

How to use it

• مجبورم برم (majburam beram) “I have to go / I have no choice but to go.”
• مجبور شدم قبول کنم (majbur shodam ghabol konam) “I was forced to accept.”
• کسی مجبورت نکرده (kasi majburet nakarde) “Nobody forced you.”
• مجبور نیستی بیای (majbur nisti biyâi) “You’re not obligated to come.”

Cultural note

مجبورم is a phrase with a wide emotional range in Persian conversation. At one end it expresses genuine helplessness or coercion; at the other it is a casual explanation for why someone did something they might not have wanted to do, used much the way English speakers say “I had to” without implying real compulsion. In a culture where direct refusals can be considered blunt or face-threatening, saying مجبور بودم can serve as a diplomatic way to explain an action without assigning personal blame. The philosophical noun جبر (jabr), from the same root, is used in discussions of free will and fate in Iranian religious and intellectual contexts, giving مجبور a faint philosophical undertone when used in more serious registers.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab