1
as in convincing
the act of reasoning or pleading with someone to accept a belief or course of action
the suffragists' gradual persuasion of the American people that voting rights had to be extended to women
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in religion
a body of beliefs and practices regarding the supernatural and the worship of one or more deities
debating theology with someone of a different persuasion
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in belief
an idea that is believed to be true or valid without positive knowledge
he's of the persuasion that everything that happens in this world is part of a divine plan
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in effectiveness
the capacity to persuade
there was an inherent persuasion in his sonorous voice that made listeners put aside any misgivings about his message
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of persuasion
Fronted by 18-year-old singer and tololoche player Santy, the group channels generations of heritage with a modern persuasion.
—
Leila Cobo, Billboard, 30 Dec. 2025
Voters of all persuasions are feeling the pain, setting in motion a demand for tax fairness that could make 2026 an upset election season.
—Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald, 21 Dec. 2025
That’s according to researchers from Oxford University and the London School of Economics who tested 19 language models on nearly 80,000 participants, in what may be the largest and most systematic investigation of AI persuasion to date.
—Parmy Olson, Twin Cities, 21 Dec. 2025
Yet persuasion is an integral part of the scientific process.
—Beth Dufault, The Conversation, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for persuasion
Leila Cobo, Billboard, 30 Dec. 2025
Voters of all persuasions are feeling the pain, setting in motion a demand for tax fairness that could make 2026 an upset election season.
—Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald, 21 Dec. 2025
That’s according to researchers from Oxford University and the London School of Economics who tested 19 language models on nearly 80,000 participants, in what may be the largest and most systematic investigation of AI persuasion to date.
—Parmy Olson, Twin Cities, 21 Dec. 2025
Yet persuasion is an integral part of the scientific process.
—Beth Dufault, The Conversation, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for persuasion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persuasion
Noun
-
Colonialism affects every aspect of life, from language to religion, from dress to traditions, and those legacies don’t necessarily disappear after an oppressor is ousted.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Since 2010, Texas’ high school social studies standards have mentioned Sikhism alongside Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism as major world religions that students need to understand.—
Silas Allen,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The long hours spent fishing were also good for meditating and reinforced his belief in the destiny marked out for him.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
-
The latter movie musical, directed and co-written by Mona Fastvold, tells the story of the titular founder of the Shakers, who brought her religious beliefs from England to America in the 18th century.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The state spent more than $20 billion without uniform standards to measure effectiveness.—
Julie Watts,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Demonstrating the effectiveness of their tactical setup without the ball, Villa have only made more interceptions and ball recoveries in one other match this season.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The research team, led by Tianyi Ma, a professor at the School of Science at RMIT, combined the carbon removal and conversion processes into a single step, thereby reducing energy use and the complexity of deploying this process.—
Ameya Paleja,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The city aims to attract businesses downtown, invest in entrepreneurs and support office-to-residential conversions.—
Jon Murray,
Denver Post,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Her first novel and international cult hit, Diary of a Void, won the Osamu Dazai Prize, awarded annually to the best debut work of fiction.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Japan was stunned into a mainstream awareness of cults in 1995, when Aum Shinrikyo, a vaguely Buddhist meditation sect, released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway, killing more than a dozen and injuring thousands.—
E. Tammy Kim,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But in the opinions of the two lead detectives on the case, to comment on every single one, to give credence publicly to even the most dubious messages, as Captain Donahoe was doing, only made the department look like a bunch of saps.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Your quirks, your opinions, your specific way of seeing the world, that's your competitive advantage.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But his dictionary, with its conclusiveness, was a huge publishing success.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
But Putin cannot have needed much persuading to agree to a formal invitation to the US to have the bilateral meeting his team have long held out as the way towards peace in Ukraine.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
9 Aug. 2025
-
In the framework of conversational intelligence, most workplace communication falls into Level 1 (telling) or Level 2 (persuading).—
Susan Curtin,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Persuasion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persuasion. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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