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.
The government has deployed around 10,000 soldiers as a dissuasive measure.
From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026
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 DSA includes dissuasive sanctions including a ban in the EU in case of repeated serious breaches threatening the life or safety of people," he said.
From Reuters • Jan. 19, 2023
“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.
