persuade

per·suade

A business woman tries to persuade her coworkers.

verb

The definition of persuade is to convince someone to do or think something.

An example of persuade is when you make a strong argument for why your idea is right and your argument convinces your boss to implement your idea.

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"persuade." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade>.

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persuade. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade

persuade

transitive verb

-·suad′ed, -·suad′ing

to cause to do something by reasoning, urging, or inducement; prevail upon
to induce to believe something; convince

Origin of persuade

Middle French persuader from Classical Latin persuadere from per-, intensive + suadere, to urge: see suasion

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MLA Style

"persuade." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade>.

APA Style

persuade. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade

persuade

transitive verb

per·suad·ed, per·suad·ing, per·suades

To cause (someone) to accept a point of view or to undertake a course of action by means of argument, reasoning, or entreaty: “to make children fit to live in a society by persuading them to learn and accept its codes” ( Alan W. Watts ) See Usage Note at convince.

Origin of persuade

Latin persuādēre per- per- suādēre to urge ; see swād- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

per·suad′a·ble
adjective

per·suad′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"persuade." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade>.

APA Style

persuade. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade

persuade

persuade induce prevail convince

These verbs mean to succeed in causing a person to do or consent to something. Persuade means to win someone over, as by reasoning or personal forcefulness: Nothing could persuade her to change her mind. To induce is to lead, as to a course of action, by means of influence or persuasion: “Pray what could induce him to commit so rash an action?” (Oliver Goldsmith). One prevails on somebody who resists: “He had prevailed upon the king to spare them” (Daniel Defoe). To convince is to persuade by the use of argument or evidence: The sales clerk convinced me that the car was worth the price.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"persuade." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade>.

APA Style

persuade. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/persuade

Verb

(third-person singular simple present persuades, present participle persuading, simple past and past participle persuaded)

To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence. Compare sway.
That salesman was able to persuade me into buying this bottle of lotion.
(now rare, dialectal) To urge, plead; to try to convince (someone to do something).

Antonyms