persuade

[per-sweyd] /pərˈsweɪd/
verb (used with object), persuaded, persuading.
1.
to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging:
We could not persuade him to wait.
2.
to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince:
to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence.
Origin
1505-15; < Latin persuādēre. See per-, dissuade, suasion
Related forms
persuadable, adjective
persuadability, persuadableness, noun
persuadably, adverb
persuadingly, adverb
nonpersuadable, adjective
prepersuade, verb (used with object), prepersuaded, prepersuading.
unpersuadable, adjective
unpersuadably, adverb
unpersuaded, adjective
well-persuaded, adjective
Synonyms
1. urge, influence, move, entice, impel. 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.
Antonyms
1. dissuade.
Usage note
See convince.
Examples from the web for persuade
  • People used to believe that if you wore agate, it would persuade others that what you said was right.
  • Very little about the article tries to persuade readers to pick up the game.
  • This diatribe is so unrelentingly negative that it loses all power to persuade.
  • We can talk to those people and try to persuade them as well.
  • Ultimately, this is not a book that will persuade skeptics.
  • If you still haven't seen the movie, maybe this will be enough to persuade you.
  • Union officials said they hoped the agreement would persuade the university's trustees not to raise student fees.
  • We don't persuade anyone with mud slinging and attacks on character.
  • Like a religious belief, there is no data or argument that can persuade you.
  • This should not persuade us to turn away from them.
British Dictionary definitions for persuade

persuade

/pəˈsweɪd/
verb (transitive; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)
1.
to induce, urge, or prevail upon successfully: he finally persuaded them to buy it
2.
to cause to believe; convince: even with the evidence, the police were not persuaded
Derived Forms
persuadable, persuasible, adjective
persuadability, persuasibility, noun
persuader, noun
Word Origin
C16: from Latin persuādēre, from per- (intensive) + suādēre to urge, advise
Word Origin and History for persuade
v.

1510s, from Middle French persuader (14c.), from Latin persuadere "to bring over by talking," (see persuasion). Related: Persuaded; persuading.