dissuasive
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dissuasive
First recorded in 1600–10; dissuas(ion) + -ive
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.
"Security is visible and very dissuasive... and it's working."
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
District police, riot police and officers in civilian clothes patrol the sector to create a “mesh of police of all types at all moments,” a dissuasive presence ready for action, he said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
"The Ministry of the Interior maintains a dissuasive police presence, guaranteeing the normal development of activities, both for communities and for companies in the public and private sectors," it said.
From Reuters ● Mar. 25, 2022
“And there is a real dissuasive effect on the right to demonstrate.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2019
“That’s the least of your worries! Perhaps I was not sufficiently dissuasive when we discussed this earlier. Perhaps you do not fully understand the circumstances of the ymbrynes’ incarceration.”
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
