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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

Like other websites using AI-powered chatbots, users type in queries and converse with the system online.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

The purpose is for nations to debate and for adversaries to converse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 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

In a converse way, Kay and Down’s reluctance to be so clean, so shiny and so heteronormative with their characters is just as forward-thinking as any media that conjures a conventional picture of equality.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026

Shepherd remembered that they didn’t converse much, just ate.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Derdenger suggests Mbappé's move had parallels to Jordan's decision decades earlier to choose Nike over Converse and Adidas due to the opportunity for the athlete to become synonymous with one brand.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

You may have seen Elsesser’s face staring back in brand campaigns for everyone from Calvin Klein to Tommy Hilfiger or bought his signature line of Converse skate shoes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

Authorities also found a Converse Chuck Taylor shoe impression on the edge of the roof of the building from which the gunman fired.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

For its fiscal fourth quarter, which runs through May, Nike expects sales to fall 2% to 4%, weighed down by weaker trends in its Converse segment and difficulties in China, whose economy has been shaky.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 31, 2026

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

Sometimes she converses with its voice assistant while driving her car.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

Subconsciously hearing the words of Shakespeare, Wednesday’s mind travels to a spooky dream state where she converses with a spirit guide and is then told to “wake up,” which she does.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2025

Convinced that Nancy is a cipher for her own lost youth, Myrtle intermittently hallucinates the dead girl’s ghost, and even converses with it.

From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2024

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

In one unit, students conversed with ChatGPT role-playing the attendees of an 1816 dinner party where Mary Shelley hatched the idea for “Frankenstein,” and then discussed the experience in class.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

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

He didn’t recognize them as from Abalu, his own community, but he heard the language in which they conversed and knew they were from neighboring creek clans, anywhere from Kolo to Oloibiri.

From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023

So I danced a few steps, conversed with myself, and laughed at nothing.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

He was driven to build the Sunflower Sound System after performing in clubs around the globe, conversing with the people who built the systems he was using and taking notes about their designs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

One executive, thinking he was communicating with an employee by teletype when in fact he was conversing with Eliza, finally asked, “why are you being so snotty to me?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

During the pandemic, some employees would spent their lunch breaks conversing with the chatbots for fun, Zinger said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

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

She seemed to be reading three books at a time while also conversing on the phone in a language that sounded like a chorus of tiny bells.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi