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I just came across a situation where a word meaning "having the quality of being compelling" would have been useful. The sentence was along the lines of:

He argued his case passionately. I think this demonstrates the [compellingness] of Yale's philosophy degrees!

I could've paraphrased to something like:

He argued his case passionately. I think this demonstrates how compelling Yale's philosophy degrees are!

.. but in this case I think it would've made the whole sentence more clunky. What I came up with in the end was 'vigor', but I don't like it; is there a word which more closely resembles 'compellingness' (which itself doesn't sound like a word to me, and the dictionary seems to back that up)?

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Why would you call the degree compelling in the first place? Seems like an odd choice of words to me. More context might help. – onomatomaniak Oct 19 '11 at 11:32
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I'll give it a while for OP to clarify. If not I'll vote to close because I have no idea what OP means by saying Harvard's computer science degrees are vigorous and compelling, apart from the implication that he thinks well of them. – FumbleFingers Oct 19 '11 at 12:22
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@FumbleFingers The fact that the two words are nowhere close to synonyms doesn't help matters, either. – onomatomaniak Oct 19 '11 at 12:36
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I agree with @FumbleFingers here. The only way I can see for a degree to be compelling is if it "evokes attention" when spotted on a resume, or if it forces you to make a decision for a candidate with a Harvard degree over one from another school. Which do you mean, Jez? – JeffSahol Oct 19 '11 at 12:37
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@JeffSahol I'm using the following definition of "compelling": having a powerful and irresistible effect; requiring acute admiration, attention, or respect. – Jez Oct 19 '11 at 22:14
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closed as not a real question by onomatomaniak, Mehper C. Palavuzlar, FumbleFingers, kiamlaluno, Jasper Loy Oct 22 '11 at 21:41

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

4 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

I think this demonstrates the compelling nature of Harvard's computer science degrees!

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up vote 3 down vote

Irresistibility? Or perhaps allure?

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up vote 0 down vote

Perhaps cogency fits the bill?

EDIT: compelling nature would work well too. Must not have looked again before editing.

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up vote -2 down vote

The word you're looking for is compelling, as it best suits the context. Here's another word that may suit.

captivating

Attract and hold the interest and attention of; charm.

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3  
The word he's looking for, whatever it may be, is a noun. – Random832 Oct 19 '11 at 19:32

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