persuade
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to induce, urge, or prevail upon successfully
he finally persuaded them to buy it
-
to cause to believe; convince
even with the evidence, the police were not persuaded
Usage
See convince.
Related Words
Persuade, induce imply influencing someone's thoughts or actions. They are used today mainly in the sense of winning over a person to a certain course of action: It was I who persuaded him to call a doctor. I induced him to do it. They differ in that persuade suggests appealing more to the reason and understanding: I persuaded him to go back to his wife (although it is often lightly used: Can't I persuade you to stay to supper? ); induce emphasizes only the idea of successful influence, whether achieved by argument or by promise of reward: What can I say that will induce you to stay at your job? Owing to this idea of compensation, induce may be used in reference to the influence of factors as well as of persons: The prospect of a raise in salary was what induced him to stay.
Other Word Forms
- nonpersuadable adjective
- persuadability noun
- persuadable adjective
- persuadableness noun
- persuadably adverb
- persuader noun
- persuadingly adverb
- prepersuade verb (used with object)
- unpersuadable adjective
- unpersuadably adverb
- unpersuaded adjective
- well-persuaded adjective
Etymology
Origin of persuade
From the Latin word persuādēre, dating back to 1505–15. See per-, dissuade, suasion
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.
And do the Cherries have any chance of persuading him to stay?
From BBC
The Carton Council persuaded CalRecycle to reverse a decision it made earlier this year that beverage cartons did not meet the recycling requirements of the Truth in Recycling law.
From Los Angeles Times
Colleges should do more to monitor the progress of male students, persuade them not to drop out and stay connected with—and offer a helping hand to—those who leave but may want to return.
Rates are unlikely to fall far enough to persuade many of those homeowners who want to sell to take on a far more expensive loan.
In fact, MI5 had disclosed Agent X's status in phone calls to me, as it tried to persuade me not to investigate him.
From BBC
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.
