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persuade

verbcommon in dialogue

  • //pə(ɹ)ˈsweɪd//

To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence.

verb

  1. 1

    To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence.

    That salesman was able to persuade me into buying this bottle of lotion.

    [VV]e are able with playne demonſtration to proue, and vvith reaſon to perſvvade that in tymes paſt our fayth vvas alike, that then vve preached thinges correſpondent vnto the forme of faith already published of vs, ſo that none in this behalfe can repyne or gaynesay vs.

    We will persuade him, be it possible.

    The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits. He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. Nobody would miss them, he explained.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo convince of by argument, or by reasons offered or suggested from reflection, etc.; to cause to believe (something).

    But beloued, wee are perswaded better things of you, and things that accompany saluation, though we thus speake.

  3. 3

    archaicTo urge, plead; to try to convince (someone to do something).

    […] and hearken not vnto Hezekiah, when hee perswadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliuer vs.

    She did not go into the coffee-room, though repeatedly persuaded by Miss Woodley, but waited at the door till her carriage drew up.

    He persuaded me to go home, but I refused.

    He did not persuade me long before I consented.

Etymology

From Latin persuādeō (“to persuade”). Cognate to for, sweet.

Forms

past tense
persuaded
past participle
persuaded
present participle
persuading
third person singular
persuades
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).