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.
Hiemer said he and his funeral director spent months trying to persuade Berlin politicians to let him return his mother’s remains for burial in her hometown.
It was luck, and the persistence of Crandell, Mullineaux, Johnston, Malone, and those with them to persuade the public to stay as far back as it had.
From Literature
But the pace is ultimately set by food corporations and consumer brands, whose business depends on persuading us that what we already eat is due for an upgrade.
From Salon
He must now articulate a credible plan for getting it down and persuading the 12-member Federal Open Market Committee to agree.
As such, Warsh will have to do the hard work of persuading other members to be successful, economists say.
From MarketWatch
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.
