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• converse
  converse

  verb (used without object)

  to talk informally with another or others; exchange views, opinions, etc., by talking.
• Converse
  Converse

  noun

  Frederick Shepherd 1871–1940, U.S. composer.

converse

¹ American  

[kuhn-vurs, kon-vurs] / kənˈvɜrs, ˈkɒn vɜrs /

verb (used without object)

• converses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conversed,
  past participle,  past
• conversing
  present participle

1. to talk informally with another or others; exchange views, opinions, etc., by talking.

   Synonyms:

   jaw, gab, talk, confer, chat

2. Archaic. to maintain a familiar association (usually followed bywith ).

3. Obsolete. to have sexual intercourse (usually followed bywith ).

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noun

1. familiar discourse or talk; conversation.

converse ² American  

[kuhn-vurs, kon-vurs, kon-vurs] / kənˈvɜrs, ˈkɒn vɜrs, ˈkɒn vɜrs /

adjective

1. opposite or contrary in direction, action, sequence, etc.; turned around.

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noun

1. something opposite or contrary.

2. Logic.

   1. a proposition obtained from another proposition by conversion.

   2. the relation between two terms, one of which is related to the other in a given manner, as “younger than” to “older than.”

3. a group of words correlative with a preceding group but having a significant pair of terms interchanged, as “hot in winter but cold in summer” and “cold in winter but hot in summer.”

Converse ³ American  

[kon-vurs] / ˈkɒn vɜrs /

noun

1. Frederick Shepherd 1871–1940, U.S. composer.

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converse ¹ British  

verb

1. to engage in conversation (with)

2. to commune spiritually (with)

3. obsolete

   1. to associate; consort

   2. to have sexual intercourse

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noun

1. conversation (often in the phrase hold converse with )

2. obsolete

   1. fellowship or acquaintance

   2. sexual intercourse

converse ² British  

/ ˈkɒnvɜːs /

adjective

1. (prenominal) reversed; opposite; contrary

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noun

1. something that is opposite or contrary

2. logic

   1. a categorical proposition obtained from another by the transposition of subject and predicate, as no bad man is bald from no bald man is bad

   2. a proposition so derived, possibly by weakening a universal proposition to the corresponding particular, as some socialists are rich from all rich men are socialists

3. logic maths a relation that holds between two relata only when a given relation holds between them in reverse order: thus father of is the converse of son of

Synonym Usage

See speak.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• converser
  noun
• conversely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• conversing
  present
• conversed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• converse
  simple
• converses
  simple
• have conversed
  perfect
• has conversed
  perfect
• am conversing
  progressive
• are conversing
  progressive
• is conversing
  progressive
• have been conversing
  perfect progressive
• has been conversing
  perfect progressive

Past

• conversed
  simple
• had conversed
  perfect
• was conversing
  progressive
• were conversing
  progressive
• had been conversing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will converse
  simple
• will have conversed
  perfect
• will be conversing
  progressive
• will have been conversing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of converse¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English conversen, from Middle French converser, from Latin conversārī “to associate with”; see con-, verse

Origin of converse²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English convers, from Anglo-French or directly from Latin conversus, past participle of convertere “to turn around,” equivalent to con- “with, together” + vert- “to turn” + -tus past participle suffix; cf. convert ¹

Explanation

Converse is a more formal way of saying "carry on a conversation." You could converse with your best friend for hours over lunch, but continue the chit-chat through the afternoon matinee and you might get shushed. Oddly enough, converse was originally a verb meaning “to move about, live or dwell” when it first came into existence in the mid 14th century. But today we only use converse to talk about, well, talking. Quipped the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “When marrying, one should ask oneself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this woman into your old age?” A good question for marrying men and women!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

converse Converse converses conversed conversing

An American flag flutters above the red brick building, while merchants cluster and converse outside its entrance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Watts locks in, while Richards and Wood converse with their guitars as only they can.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

A Reddit-like pseudo social network for OpenClaw agents called Moltbook, where chatbots converse, has also grabbed headlines and provoked soul-searching over AI.

From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026

However, their children frequently struggled to converse with it.

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026

I do my best to get a leash on my catastrophizing, and we commingle, converse, and serve the community.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

The sneaker giant will move some of the Converse footwear manufacturing resources closer to factory partners and it will reorganize how its materials supply chain operates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

Investors instead zeroed in on declining profit, softer sales in Greater China, and a 30% slump in revenue for the Converse footwear brand.

From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026

There are also yellow tents selling only Golf Wang, and there’s a Converse pop-up with Golf le Fleur, where shoppers are able to sit down and try on the in-demand shoes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025

It’s also been heavily discounting and seen revenue at its Converse brand tumble 27% during its most recent fiscal first quarter.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025

From the comfort of the passenger seat, I watched Fang slouch up his front walk, the battered Converse box pinched under his arm.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

But Domingo, who converses with Kościuszko in English, is also a bit of an anachronism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

Instead of merely nodding his head, Samuel asks questions and converses with Romy.

From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2024

In its relative orderliness and palatability, “Yes and Yes” is not really a danced analogy to the book, but something else, complex in its own ways, true to Roche’s voice as she converses with another.

From New York Times ● May 5, 2023

She merits her own chapters, all in italics, during which she converses with those hallucinations.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2022

Their waiter stops at their table and converses briefly with Widget, paying no notice to the man in the grey suit.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Michl Binderbauer, chief executive of TAE, said in an interview that he has spoken with Donald Trump Jr., who will sit on the company’s nine-person board, but hasn’t conversed with the president.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

Norman said he conversed with Trump twice on Friday.

From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2025

Instead she toured the clinic and conversed with healthcare providers and patients who were interested in speaking with her.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2024

As they conversed over the text console, Remi watched from the middle of the theater, closing her left eye again and again.

From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2024

I knew she lived in the house next to ours, but I'd never conversed with her before or anything.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

Before her departure, Keyser appeared in the first 20 minutes of Thursday's episode, conversing with one of the male contestants before appearing briefly in two further non-speaking scenes.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

The chatbot, capable of conversing in natural language, captivated global audiences and has since developed advanced coding, voice interaction and image generation capabilities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026

The evening had been busy for Juan too, she recalled, including cooking tacos for the children, mopping the kitchen and reading and conversing with Kevin.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026

What’s coming next is hardware dedicated to making the experience of conversing with our tech that much easier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026

Hamlet stood there, conversing with the ghost of his father.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood