Meaning of Duress

Mnemonic Aid to Learn Duress:

We learn the word Duress with the help of a simple word trick: DURESS , on simple rearrangement, becomes U DRESS:

A tyrant husband to his wife: It’s an order, U DRESS the way I tell you to, else you don’t get a dime from me.

As we see from above, duress means to place undue pressure on another person so that he or she agrees to you. In law, any act that is committed under duress is not held to be valid and is in fact registered as a void one.

Second Mnemonic for Duress:

There is another mnemonic device that you can use for duress:

Duress simply means you are under stress!

Hope you can work out the logic behind this one.

Pronunciation: doo–res, dyoo-, door-is, dyoor–

Meaning of Duress:

1. Compulsory threat or pressure.
2. Meaning In Law:
a. Such constraint or coercion as will render void a contract or other legal act entered or performed under its influence.
b. Forcible imprisonment.

Usage Examples for Duress:

1. The supposed criminal told that he was made to confess under duress by the police.
2. Students generally find themselves under some kind of duress in college or at least they perceive the situation to be so.