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

"We all worked together to convince ourselves once we got to that point where it was 10 to 2," she said.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Not a good start for someone trying to convince skeptical American Jews of good faith.

From Slate ● 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

In a recent paper, Hyun analyzed 14 seasons of “Shark Tank,” the television show where entrepreneurs try to convince members of a panel of potential investors to back them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

I had failed to convince my sisters to stay away from the creature and now we were being invited into his cave.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

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

Instead, the psychological tease convinces the player that a win is imminent, spurring them to pay for another try.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026

“And it convinces me accordingly that you aren’t prejudiced against black.”

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

Yet some people still aren’t convinced he’s really back, or at least not in any meaningful sense.

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026

In his talk, Warsh said he saw little evidence that borrowing conditions were restraining the economy, and that the summer’s better inflation readings hadn’t convinced him the underlying trend was improving.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

"We are convinced that Dario’s arrival in our team, as a talent already established on the international stage, will interpret its spirit with respect and authenticity," they said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

IQ made them more convinced they were right.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

He’s still convinced one of us may develop an interest in his beloved language, even though I’ve informed him there’s a zéro percent chance of that happening.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Friday’s message is that investors require more convincing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The challenge will be convincing investors to finance these huge projects as oil demand flattens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Others have been convincing MPs on a planned trip to Ukraine to change their flights in order to be present.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

But his widow has been uniquely bad at convincing people, even her own political allies, that they should care.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

Although he was champion, he was without a convincing portfolio, his right to wear the crown left in doubt by Bobby’s shadow.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

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