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

Plus, Meta needs to convince skeptical consumers it’s trustworthy if its powerful new Muse AI agent is going to succeed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

“He was able to convince markets he was going to do what it takes to bring inflation down.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

"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

Though it once helped convince millions of the truth of spirit communication, her Victorian-era writing is so overdramatic, that today, most of the book reads as proof against spirit existence.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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

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

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026

After Stagg convinces the leaders to postpone D-day, he is vindicated by a deluge of rain that arrives while everyone is attending church at Southwark House on June 5.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

Her smug expression convinces me to keep on walking out of the room and unleashes a barrage of worry that unsettles my stomach.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

Given how many times we’ve heard that one before, I’m just not convinced.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

“I’m not fully convinced that pausing training alone is actually going to meaningfully change the rate of progress of the frontier,” Gupta said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

“Gail convinced me in the first minute that she was absolutely the one for the job,” he recalled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

I am not convinced by Liverpool at all after covering them for Radio 5 Live last week - I thought Fulham were the better side in their 0-0 draw at Anfield.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

He took a long time lighting his cigar, and with each passing minute, Penelope grew more convinced that she was about to be dismissed from her job.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

The CIA’s director, William Casey, and his team needed little convincing by their MI6 counterparts to jointly act on Kuzichken’s information.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 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

Texas Stock Exchange’s audacious plan to challenge Wall Street’s financial dominance hinges on convincing companies to ditch their New York listings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 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

He was a desperate man, trying to save his own life and the lives of everyone in Fry the only way he knew how, by convincing himself not to give up on...himself.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

Related Words

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