dissuade

1 of 2

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

dissuader

2 of 2

noun

dis·​suad·​er

-də(r)

plural -s

: one that dissuades from a course of action

Synonyms of dissuade

Verb

• discourage
• deter

Examples of dissuade in a Sentence

Verb

Our warnings did not dissuade them.

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

In May, Cloobeck was arrested and charged with three counts of attempting to dissuade a witness from testifying and one count of harassment for making annoying phone calls, according to a criminal complaint. — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026

The ease with which Murray operated on the field, even amid all of the developing noise, didn’t dissuade anyone from those initial impressions. — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Voting rights advocates argue that requirements to present birth certificates or passports in order to register to vote is intended to make voting more difficult, to dissuade some people from voting at all. — Todd Spangler, Freep.com, 4 Sep. 2026

That, however, did little to dissuade investors from keeping expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike elevated. — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

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

First Known Use

Verb

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