Nearby Words
verb (used with object), -suad·ed, -suad·ing.
1.
to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging: We could not persuade him to wait.
2.
to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince: to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence.
Related forms
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
EXPANDpre·per·suade, verb (used with object), -suad·ed, -suad·ing.
un·per·suad·a·ble, adjective
un·per·suad·a·b·ly, adverb
un·per·suad·ed, adjective
well-per·suad·ed, adjective
COLLAPSESynonyms
1. urge, influence, move, entice, impel. 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.
1. urge, influence, move, entice, impel. 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.
Antonyms
1. dissuade.
1. dissuade.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Persuade
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
| to bark; yelp. |
Example Sentences
- People used to believe that if you wore agate, it would persuade others that what you said was right.
- Very little about the article tries to persuade readers to pick up the game.
- This diatribe is so unrelentingly negative that it loses all power to persuade.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
persuade
1510s, from L. persuadere "to bring over by talking," (see persuasion).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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