per·suade
(pər-swād́)
[Latin persuādēre, per-, per-, + suādēre, to urge.]
transitive verb: -suad·ed, -suad·ing, -suades.
- To induce to undertake a course of action or embrace a point of view 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
derivatives
- per·suad́a·ble
- adjective
- per·suad́er
- noun
synonyms:
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.
