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

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

Look, you’re not gonna be able to convince everybody,” he adds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

ServiceNow’s mixed third-quarter results on Wednesday weren’t enough to convince investors of its artificial-intelligence momentum.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

She had already made up her mind not to talk about it, and that boy was not going to convince her otherwise.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

When their matriarch convinces the family to embark on a bucket-list road trip around the island, old family secrets surface as the 2019 protests following Hurricane Maria unfold around them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 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

Paid-for false advertising which convinces people to part with cash has become a familiar part of everyday life online.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

She stands up to the boys if they aren’t nice to us and convinces our parents to let us have sleepovers.

From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan

"I had to prove using several different methods before the rest of the lab was convinced."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

At 19, Ronaldo played in the final of Euro 2004 at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, in front of a country that had convinced itself the trophy was already on its way.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

Angelenos, she said, have become convinced “that this is the best that we can do. Our City Hall became a place where we became so used to saying, ‘No,’ we forgot how to say ‘yes.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

It is the rout they’d convinced themselves they’d never see.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026

“So why lie now? No, I’m convinced Kent knows your mother. I’m convinced he’s met with her. He gave us exact dates, meeting locations.”

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Before these therapies become routine options for common conditions, researchers will need convincing evidence that their benefits last, their risks remain acceptably low over many years, and their costs are manageable.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026

One brokerage said Oracle’s efforts to draw a line under its AI credit struggles at an investor event last week were not entirely convincing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

There’s a risk that the deal could fall through, Needham analyst Ryan Koontz told MarketWatch, noting that Lumentum’s board “still has some convincing to do” to get shareholders in agreement.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

He said he was "delighted to win" but admitted he probably wouldn't have done so without Croft convincing him to banish the last remaining traitor, King Kenny.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

It all revolved around telling stories, and convincing people to believe them.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

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