persuadeverb [ T ]
uk/pəˈsweɪd/us/pɚˈsweɪd/B1 to make someone do or believe something by giving them a good reason to do it or by talking to that person and making them believe it:
If she doesn't want to go, nothing you can say will persuade her.
[ + (that) ] It's no use trying to persuade him (that) you're innocent.
[ + to infinitive ] He is trying to persuade local and foreign businesses to invest in the project.
Using a bunch of bananas, the zoo-keeper persuaded the monkey back into its cage.
formal The first priority is to persuade the management of the urgency of this matter.
Her legal advisers persuaded her into/out of mentioning (= to mention/not to mention) the names of the people involved in the robbery.
More examples
- Clever salesmanship can persuade you to buy things you don't really want.
- We only need one more player for this game - can you persuade your sister to join in?
- I have a suspicion that he only asked me out because my brother persuaded him to.
- Johnson was influential in persuading the producers to put money into the film.
- She used her womanly charms to persuade him to change his mind.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Urging & persuading
- argumentation
- blag
- brainwash
- bring
- browbeat
- butter
- get sth out of sb
- incite
- persuasion
- preach
- press-gang
- prevail on/upon sb
- proselytize
- rush sb into (doing) sth
- sucker sb into sth
- swing
- talk sb down
- talk sb out of sth
- twist
- work on sb
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