dissuade
Americanverb (used with object)
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to deter by advice or persuasion; persuade not to do something (often followed byfrom ).
She dissuaded him from leaving home.
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Archaic. to advise or urge against.
to dissuade an action.
verb
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(often foll by from) to deter (someone) by persuasion from a course of action, policy, etc
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to advise against (an action, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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dissuadernoun
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dissuasionnoun
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dissuasivenessnoun
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predissuadeverb (used with object)
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dissuadableadjective
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dissuasiveadjective
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undissuadableadjective
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dissuasivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dissuadesimple
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dissuadessimple
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have dissuadedperfect
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has dissuadedperfect
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am dissuadingprogressive
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are dissuadingprogressive
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is dissuadingprogressive
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have been dissuadingperfect progressive
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has been dissuadingperfect progressive
Past
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dissuadedsimple
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had dissuadedperfect
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was dissuadingprogressive
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were dissuadingprogressive
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had been dissuadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dissuade
1505–15; < Latin dissuādēre, equivalent to dis- dis- 1 + suādēre to recommend, urge, derivative of suād-, base of suāvis tasting agreeable; see suave
Explanation
When you dissuade someone, you convince that person not to do something: “When Caroline saw Peter's broken leg, she tried to dissuade him from going on the ski trip.” Remember the meaning of dissuade by comparing it to its more common relative persuade. The suade part that both words share has origins in the Latin root suadēre, meaning “to urge.” In the case of persuade, the prefix per- means “thoroughly,” intensifying “to urge” and giving persuade its meaning of “to convince.” Think of dissuade as the opposite of persuade: the prefix dis- reverses the action of the root, giving the meaning of not urging, in other words, convincing someone NOT to do something.
Vocabulary lists containing dissuade
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Metamorphosis
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Expository Writing, List 1
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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:
At times, all he had to do to dissuade a would-be challenger was shoot them a menacing glance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
If the person on the other end tries to dissuade you from talking to anyone else, or tries to tell you there’s no time, it’s a scam.
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
Skelton said the decision to release Calocane to the crisis team and return him to his accommodation was not a "gamble" or influenced by Calocane trying to "dissuade" him from sectioning him.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
Others worry it will dissuade local real estate investment, or point out that properties can be vacant for a variety of reasons, including during renovations or transitions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Gramps insisted on being with her while she underwent tests, though an intern had tried to dissuade him.
From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
In the series, Joss’ Ken dissuades Poehler’s peppy protagonist Leslie Knopefrom hosting a local festival on sacred burial grounds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
Walz told AP he hopes the Legislature will seek a compromise that includes fair pay for drivers but also dissuades the companies from leaving the market.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
Mark Llewellyn Slade, the firm's founder, says that's because he dissuades people who don't stand much chance - and also because they've put in more than 1,500 applications and "learned what works and doesn't work".
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2023
A lack of enough childcare spots dissuades many working women from becoming mothers, he added.
From Reuters ● Jul. 5, 2023
Permission being granted to them at their earnest request, Vercingetorix at first dissuades them from it, but afterwards concedes the point, owing to their entreaties and the compassion of the soldiers.
From "De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries by Caesar, Julius
He may have been dissuaded from imposing a toll, but this is the way he thinks, and this is how he defines U.S. interests.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
Immigration raids and wildfires dissuaded tourists from visiting, and even Canadian tourists who typically make up the largest number of foreign visitors to California dropped 21%.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
"Second, and most important, the harassment by the British press has dissuaded them from ever cooperating with UK authorities or speaking with the British press."
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
While Walter Hunt’s daughter dissuaded her father from obtaining a sewing-machine patent, Elias Howe Jr.’s wife inspired her husband to get one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026
But once enraged, a mob can rarely be dissuaded.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Police stopped, questioned and frisked those suspected of carrying weapons or casing a business, dissuading the ill-intentioned from packing guns while reducing shootings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Once a key storage of wealth, home prices across the country have stagnated, dissuading would-be buyers from investing.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
We understand that calling the principal himself an idiot wouldn’t be the most effective means of dissuading him from destructive ideas.
From Slate ● Jan. 17, 2026
I'm not the only skeptical of how the shallow manipulations of TikTok are dissuading people from having more meaningful, if more slow-moving, experiences in the real world.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2025
Had I succeeded in dissuading Hamlet from revenge?
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
