persuade
[ per-sweyd ]
verb (used with object),per·suad·ed, per·suad·ing.
to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging: We could not persuade him to wait.
to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince: to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence.
Origin of persuade
1synonym study For persuade
1. Persuade, induce imply influencing someone's thoughts or actions. They are used today mainly in the sense of winning over a person to a certain course of action: It was I who persuaded him to call a doctor. I induced him to do it. They differ in that persuade suggests appealing more to the reason and understanding: I persuaded him to go back to his wife (although it is often lightly used: Can't I persuade you to stay to supper? ); induce emphasizes only the idea of successful influence, whether achieved by argument or by promise of reward: What can I say that will induce you to stay at your job? Owing to this idea of compensation, induce may be used in reference to the influence of factors as well as of persons: The prospect of a raise in salary was what induced him to stay.
usage note For persuade
See convince.
Other words for persuade
Opposites for persuade
Other words from persuade
- per·suad·a·ble, adjective
- per·suad·a·bil·i·ty, per·suad·a·ble·ness, noun
- per·suad·a·bly, adverb
- per·suad·ing·ly, adverb
- non·per·suad·a·ble, adjective
- pre·per·suade, verb (used with object), pre·per·suad·ed, pre·per·suad·ing.
- un·per·suad·a·ble, adjective
- un·per·suad·a·bly, adverb
- un·per·suad·ed, adjective
- well-per·suad·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for persuade
persuade
/ (pəˈsweɪd) /
verb(tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)
to induce, urge, or prevail upon successfully: he finally persuaded them to buy it
to cause to believe; convince: even with the evidence, the police were not persuaded
Origin of persuade
1C16: from Latin persuādēre, from per- (intensive) + suādēre to urge, advise
Derived forms of persuade
- persuadable or persuasible, adjective
- persuadability or persuasibility, noun
- persuader, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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