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

• 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

The stories have gotten so prevalent that park management discourages people from exploring the park after dark in an attempt to dissuade ghost hunters from damaging the historic sites. —Graham Averill, Outside, 28 Oct. 2025

These involve raiding the lairs of hoodlum rivals, then singlehandedly dissuading them from competition. —Dennis Harvey, Variety, 28 Oct. 2025

Yes, that’s taking into account the 2009 FD outing, which even the horrible CGI couldn’t dissuade us from watching multiple times. —Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 27 Oct. 2025

That information might have dissuaded the Heat from pursuing a trade for Rozier. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 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