dissuade

verb

dis·​suade di-ˈswād 

dissuaded; dissuading

transitive verb

1

a

: to advise (a person) against something

… dissuading us from base thoughts, low ends, ignoble gains …

—A. T. Quiller-Couch

b

archaic : to advise against (an action)

2

: to turn from something by persuasion

unable to dissuade him from going

dissuader noun

Synonyms of dissuade

• discourage
• deter

Examples of dissuade in a Sentence

Our warnings did not dissuade them.

tried to dissuade her from her intention to drop out of college

Recent Examples on the Web

Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy director for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said a policy like that could only be designed to dissuade people from accessing their health benefits. —CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025

The meeting in Paris is also meant to dissuade Israel from escalation, according to Reuters, which cited European and Lebanese diplomats and officials. —Rachel Wolf, FOXNews.com, 18 Dec. 2025

However, this did not dissuade them. —Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Dec. 2025

Feliciano said the threat of violence from community members won't dissuade his Kansas City team from following their orders. —Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 13 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle French or Latin; Middle French dissuader, from Latin dissuadēre, from dis- + suadēre to urge — more at sweet

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for dissuade

• afraid
• allayed
• arcade
• arrayed
• assayed
• barmaid
• betrayed
• blockade
• bridesmaid
• brigade
• brocade
• buffeted

Kids Definition

dissuade

verb

dis·​suade dis-ˈwād 

dissuaded; dissuading

: to persuade or advise not to do something