convince

American  

[kuhn-vins] / kənˈvɪns /

verb (used with object)

• convinces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• convinced,
  past participle,  past
• convincing
  present participle

1. to move by argument or evidence to belief, agreement, consent, or a course of action.

   Ample evidence convinced the jury of his guilt.

   A test drive will convince you that this car handles well.

   Synonyms:

   satisfy

2. to persuade; cajole.

   We finally convinced them to have dinner with us.

3. Obsolete. to prove or find guilty.

4. Obsolete. to overcome; vanquish.

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convince British  

/ kənˈvɪns /

verb

1. (may take a clause as object) to make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something; persuade

2. to persuade (someone) to do something

3. obsolete

   1. to overcome

   2. to prove guilty

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Usage

Convince, an often stated rule says, may be followed only by that or of, never by to: We convinced him that he should enter (not convinced him to enter ) the contest. He was convinced of the wisdom of entering. In examples to support the rule, convince is often contrasted with persuade, which may take to, of, or that followed by the appropriate construction: We persuaded him to seek counseling (or of his need for counseling or that he should seek counseling ). The history of usage does not support the rule. Convince (someone) to has been in use since the 16th century and, despite objections by some, occurs freely today in all varieties of speech and writing and is fully standard: Members of the cabinet are trying to convince the prime minister not to resign.

The use of convince to talk about persuading someone to do something is considered by many British speakers to be wrong or unacceptable

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• convincement
  noun
• convincer
  noun
• convincibility
  noun
• preconvince
  verb (used with object)
• reconvince
  verb (used with object)
• convincible
  adjective
• unconvincible
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• convincing
  present
• convinced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• convince
  simple
• convinces
  simple
• have convinced
  perfect
• has convinced
  perfect
• am convincing
  progressive
• are convincing
  progressive
• is convincing
  progressive
• have been convincing
  perfect progressive
• has been convincing
  perfect progressive

Past

• convinced
  simple
• had convinced
  perfect
• was convincing
  progressive
• were convincing
  progressive
• had been convincing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will convince
  simple
• will have convinced
  perfect
• will be convincing
  progressive
• will have been convincing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of convince

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin convincere “to prove (something) false or true, (somebody) right or wrong,” equivalent to con- con- + vincere “to overcome”; see victor

Explanation

"How again was it that you convinced me to do this?" the boy said to his friend before they jumped out of the plane on their first sky dive. Convince means to talk someone into something, or win someone over. A person convinces by making an argument—you can convince your parents to let you go to the movies by promising you'll do all your homework the next day. A thing can convince as well. The cash prize convinced me to enter the contest. The threat of failure convinced the kids to study.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

convince convinces convinced convincing

Honour your joy, do not shy away from the good that is trying to reach you, do not convince yourself that you are unworthy of it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Commerzbank slashed thousands of jobs and hiked its financial targets in an effort to convince shareholders to back its campaign to remain independent.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

A laboured points victory over Regis Prograis in his last outing did little to convince purists he belongs at the sport's highest echelon.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

The design-software company has been trying to convince Wall Street that it’s well-suited to compete in the AI era.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

He dragged down the stairs, trying to convince himself it was possible to be nice to Mary Lou.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

Once the victim is hooked, the scammer finally convinces victims to open an account on the “investment platform.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

Chris Pine shows off his surprising fluency in Italian in this film about a pesky tween who convinces an aimless young woman to abduct her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

The sort of meal that costs very little but somehow convinces you otherwise.

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026

He convinces his childhood best friend to let him co-host his son’s wedding alongside a “younger and flashier” wedding MC — played by Gold —who had already been hired.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

Let us suppose that he is most unwilling to grant that any thing exceeds the force of Nature, but where a full evidence convinces him.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

In rural Pennsylvania, third-generation farmer Jim Barbour isn’t convinced that elevated inflation is here to stay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

But analysts are not yet convinced that is going to be fully effective.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

But rising diesel prices, renewed tensions in the Middle East and Friday’s hotter-than-expected consumer inflation report have convinced traders and economists that Warsh will follow through on his tough talk and raise rates.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

But Champagne is convinced that those problems are now in the past and officials in his government "understand now that speed and skill are what's needed to seize this golden opportunity."

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

Clearly, you’ve convinced her that the situation is dire.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

They were both winning, yes, but they haven't been all that convincing.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Boosting the stock will likely require success on several fronts, including convincing customers that Venmo is more than just an app to pay your friends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

They’ve already succeeded in convincing the government to designate the Vjosa Narta river area as a national park.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

What was thought to be a singular attack on Hugging Face was really thousands of little AI’s colluding, even convincing some to “sacrifice” themselves so that others could succeed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

Hannah was doing a dance, which was entirely convincing because it was completely real.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Related Words

• assure
• get
• persuade
• prompt
• prove
• satisfy
• sway