dissuade
Americanverb (used with object)
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to deter by advice or persuasion; persuade not to do something (often followed byfrom ).
She dissuaded him from leaving home.
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Archaic. to advise or urge against.
to dissuade an action.
verb
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(often foll by from) to deter (someone) by persuasion from a course of action, policy, etc
-
to advise against (an action, etc)
Other Word Forms
- dissuadable adjective
- dissuader noun
- dissuasion noun
- dissuasive adjective
- dissuasively adverb
- dissuasiveness noun
- predissuade verb (used with object)
- undissuadable adjective
Etymology
Origin of dissuade
1505–15; < Latin dissuādēre, equivalent to dis- dis- 1 + suādēre to recommend, urge, derivative of suād-, base of suāvis tasting agreeable; suave
Explanation
When you dissuade someone, you convince that person not to do something: “When Caroline saw Peter's broken leg, she tried to dissuade him from going on the ski trip.” Remember the meaning of dissuade by comparing it to its more common relative persuade. The suade part that both words share has origins in the Latin root suadēre, meaning “to urge.” In the case of persuade, the prefix per- means “thoroughly,” intensifying “to urge” and giving persuade its meaning of “to convince.” Think of dissuade as the opposite of persuade: the prefix dis- reverses the action of the root, giving the meaning of not urging, in other words, convincing someone NOT to do something.
Vocabulary lists containing dissuade
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Metamorphosis
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Expository Writing, 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.
North Korea's abrupt border closure in 2020 stranded many of them abroad for years, and Pyongyang later beefed up defences along the frontier to dissuade illegal crossings.
From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026
They have also repeatedly attacked armed Iranian Kurdish groups based in Iraq and in border areas, to dissuade them from joining the war with ground forces.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
A stable labor market, in turn, would almost certainly dissuade the Fed from cutting interest rates in March.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026
The visit comes days after high-level talks in Washington failed to dissuade Trump from his plans.
From BBC • Jan. 16, 2026
‘And he has passed into the shadow from which none have returned. I could not dissuade him. He is gone.’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
