persuade

American

[per-sweyd] / pərˈsweɪd /

verb (used with object)

persuaded, persuading

to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging.

We could not persuade him to wait.

Synonyms:

impel, entice, move, influence, urge

Antonyms:

dissuade
to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince.

to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence.

persuade British

/ pəˈsweɪd /

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

There aren’t many tools for HIV patient advocates to persuade Gilead to allow broader international distribution of lenacapavir.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

I’m not here to persuade you to fly if it frightens you that much.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

That should mean no more "endless phone calls" where they try to persuade you to stay a little longer.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

But in private communications with the alleged victim, he invoked the investigation in an effort to persuade her to disavow the allegations, the Journal has reported.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

It’s unclear how Tate was able to persuade Holman’s warden to house two pretrial detainees on death row, although Tate knew people at the prison from his days as a probation officer.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023