convince
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
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to persuade; cajole.
We finally convinced them to have dinner with us.
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Obsolete. to prove or find guilty.
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Obsolete. to overcome; vanquish.
verb
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(may take a clause as object) to make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something; persuade
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to persuade (someone) to do something
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obsolete
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to overcome
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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
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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convincesimple
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convincessimple
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have convincedperfect
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has convincedperfect
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are convincingprogressive
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am convincingprogressive
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is convincingprogressive
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have been convincingperfect progressive
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has been convincingperfect progressive
Past
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convincedsimple
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had convincedperfect
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was convincingprogressive
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were convincingprogressive
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had been convincingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing convince
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 21-30
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Erik Rylander, head of carbon-dioxide removal at Stockholm Exergi, said Frontier funding helped convince the Swedish government to buy into its project.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 17, 2026
Jozak was unable to convince Christian Pulisic to represent Croatia - despite the CFF helping him obtain a passport that allowed the midfielder to join Borussia Dortmund aged 16.
From BBC • Jun. 17, 2026
The Cursor deal could spruce up xAI’s positioning in the market, allowing Musk to improve Grok with better coding capabilities and also convince enterprise companies to adopt its AI.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
Going forward, this may convince oil traders that a large security premium in the price of oil may not be altogether justified.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026
Is there a way to convince Mark that Boo and I are a package deal?
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
