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

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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

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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

They would have to convince someone not to do so.

From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2026

Or at least convince him that lecturing Pope Leo XIV on Catholicism is like me giving batting tips to Shohei Ohtani.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

Patterson has 28 days to decide if she will seek to convince the High Court of Australia to hear another appeal over the case.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

He just had to convince a bunch of 18-to-22-year-olds to give it a shot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Coal tried to convince himself he was being paranoid.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

When she nearly miscarries, he convinces her to marry him and move to his company’s sponsored enclave that’s popping with pregnant women like her.

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

The US will has a way to go before it convinces economists, investors, and the nations trading with Iran that its sanctions threat is to be taken seriously.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Increasingly worried, Leonie convinces her can-do colleague Rhoda to travel to Malta so she can investigate what’s become of Max.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

“What’s better,” asks Dylan, “hoping Magnus convinces enough people to feel sorry for you or going up there and taking a spot you should already have?”

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

His suspicions about her arise after he’s injured in a car accident and becomes convinced that she looks slightly different post-crash.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026

Still, analysts aren’t convinced that the ad business is safe from agentic upheaval.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

Soon Nina sees that her father is tired and weak, despite a meal and plenty of water; she becomes convinced that he needs fresh air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

Some, who want to see the project go ahead, fear that the energy secretary is not likely to be convinced that it should.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

Eventually she becomes at ease, convinced, at least enough, that me sitting in her seat hasn’t caused me to behave in any abnormal or dangerous ways, and that I don’t plan to ransack her workstation.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Take a You Can See Everything Rorschach test: Everyone in the Elizabeth Holmes documentary is playing a character, but only one performer is utterly convincing.

From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026

A convincing research design must establish what would have happened without the program—the counterfactual.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Most observers are saying that Lula’s campaign successfully doubled down on voter turnout, convincing many of the 33 million people who did not vote in the first round to show up for the runoff.

From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2026

The convincing upset victory in Sunday's vote follows nearly two years of anti-government protests, ending 14 years in power for Vucic's party.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

It was such a convincing illusion that even I, who knew the essential falseness of it, felt oddly comforted.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

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