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Synonyms

persuade

American

[per-swayd] / pərˈsweɪd /

verb (used with object)

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.

Synonym Usage

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

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of persuade

From the Latin word persuādēre, dating back to 1505–15. See per-, dissuade, suasion

Explanation

If you get talked into something, you've been persuaded. If your friends try to persuade you to swan-dive into a dangerous ravine, it's time to find some new friends. To persuade is to get your way — win the argument, convince the group to see your favorite movie, get your parents to let you borrow the car. You persuade with language, with a carefully constructed argument, and with the strength of your conviction. The word is sometimes used tongue-in-cheek to describe the very opposite of a carefully worded argument. A movie gangster might "persuade" people with the gun he keeps tucked in his pocket.

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Vocabulary lists containing persuade

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Argumentative Writing

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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.

See Examples For:

persuade persuades persuaded persuading

The film only has to persuade us to pay attention to its shouts.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

Most of the time, offers of cash, travel vouchers and accommodations can help persuade passengers with flexible plans to give up seats voluntarily.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

And while serving in government, Noem adviser Corey Lewandowski reportedly tried to persuade Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to hire him on the side.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

In addition, the memory-chip makers are trying to persuade customers to commit to multi-year contracts that may smooth out an earnings profile that has, historically, been extremely volatile.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

I knew that what I was saying wouldn't persuade Chapman, but I felt the need to say it anyway.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

If Silicon Valley has perfected any business model, it’s the one in which it cooks up a new technology and then persuades people they can’t live without it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

One aspect of the dollar index being driven back up toward 100 is it persuades Hartnett that rate cuts are less likely.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 6, 2026

Kolar explained that, besides actual innocence, “disproportionality is the second most powerful” argument that persuades clemency boards and governors.

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026

I would need to see something that would persuades me that, yes, that's OK now, that will be OK.

From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026

Eventually, with the aid of several glasses of champagne, Tsukiko persuades her to abandon the effort, drawing her out into the sunken garden to distract her.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Wirtz has come in for criticism amid his struggles to replicate the form which persuaded the Reds to pay Bayer Leverkusen what was a club record £116m in June 2025.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Pillinger persuaded Britpop band Blur to compose a distinctive call-sign that Beagle 2 would transmit to Earth after landing.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Last spring, advocates persuaded council members to pursue a ballot measure that would double the parks allocation over four years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

By 2014, Karnofsky, who had been reading Yudkowsky’s writings with both interest and some skepticism for years, was becoming persuaded by arguments about the importance of protecting the world from rogue AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

The scientific network is another term for that sociological reality: Pascal announced his discoveries to Mersenne’s network, and persuaded them that his facts were right by getting them to repeat his experiments.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Campaigns are entering a crucial stretch for persuading the independent voters who will probably determine outcomes in swing races.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

One way round persuading a player to renew would be to offer a significant financial incentive to re-sign to negate the risk of relegation.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

His most impressive achievement, however, has been persuading people to pay more for his stock than his holdings of Bitcoin are worth.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

Another factor persuading carry traders to rethink their exposure may be the imminence of further tightening by the Bank of Japan.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

The city of Anaheim started to recruit defense contractors, eventually persuading Northrop, Boeing, and North American Aviation to build factories there.

From "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser

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