convince

verb

con·vince | \kən-ˈvin(t)s

convinced; convincing

Definition of convince

1 : to bring (as by argument) to belief, consent, or a course of action : persuade convinced himself that she was all right— William Faulkner something I could never convince him to read— John Lahr

2 obsolete

a : to overcome by argument

b : overpower, overcome

3 obsolete : demonstrate, prove

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Examples of convince in a Sentence

He convinced me that the story was true. They convinced us of their innocence. I managed to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. We convinced them to go along with our scheme. I was unable to convince her to stay.

Recent Examples on the Web

Rachel puts on a faux maturity about it and mistakenly convinces Jill to go out with Ross. — Vanessa Golembewski, Glamour, "Have You Noticed They're Always Reading on Friends? Yes, Even Joey," 2 July 2018 While the White House later backed away from an agreement, the tweet came after oil and gasoline prices surged last week even after Saudi Arabia convinced OPEC to potentially add nearly 1 million barrels a day to the market. — Mohammed Sergie, Bloomberg.com, "Trump Tweets, Saudis Scramble: Here's How the U.S. Steers OPEC," 1 July 2018 The behavior seems unusual, but others are not convinced the leopard is exhibiting tool use. — National Geographic, "Leopard Plays With Prey’s Own Bones," 19 June 2018 Other researchers say Ramirez Rozzi’s argument is convincing. — Ann Gibbons, Science | AAAS, "After a bar opens, the Baka pygmies of Cameroon have fewer babies," 18 June 2018 He was convinced the Thais were looking in the wrong place. — Shibani Mahtani, Washington Post, "‘Time is running out’: Inside the treacherous rescue of boys trapped in a Thai cave," 13 July 2018 He was convinced that the methods had changed — but not the underlying cruelty. — Carol Marbin Miller, miamiherald, "A victim of vile abuse at Florida reform school, he spent his life fighting for justice," 10 July 2018 Monday’s vote is an attempt to convince the RNC that Charlotte still wants the convention. — Steve Harrison, charlotteobserver, "Charlotte releases details for Monday RNC vote. Here’s how to share your views.," 12 July 2018 Cincinnati area health leaders and coalitions fighting the heroin epidemic had spent the last few years going to dozens of public meetings trying to convince elected officials to allow needle exchanges in their communities. — Terry Demio, Cincinnati.com, "Living with HIV: Fueled by heroin, HIV makes an alarming resurgence in Cincinnati," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'convince.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.