persuade

verb

per·suade | \ pər-ˈswād

persuaded; persuading

Definition of persuade

transitive verb

1 : to move by argument, entreaty, or expostulation to a belief, position, or course of action

2 : to plead with : urge

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Examples of persuade in a Sentence

He persuaded his friend to go back to school. She couldn't be persuaded to go. He would not let himself be persuaded into buying the more expensive stereo. I am not easily persuaded. They persuaded us that we were wrong. He persuaded himself that he had made the right choice.

Recent Examples on the Web

At long last, Westwood town officials have persuaded a marquee office tenant to move to town: Citizens Financial Group. — Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, "A decade later, University Station’s train is finally pulling in," 16 June 2019 At the end of her five-day course, she was persuaded to take more classes. — Sonia Moghe, CNN, "An actress testifies she was lured into 'sex cult' through classes," 11 June 2019 The pace and volume of this deluge have persuaded some newsrooms that sending journalists abroad is a fool’s errand. — Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, The New York Review of Books, "Bellingcat and How Open Source Reinvented Investigative Journalism," 10 June 2019 The response did not persuade the agency to change its findings, the 41-page final report released Friday states. — Krista Torralva, ExpressNews.com, "TEA recommends replacing entire Harlandale ISD board; naming conservator," 7 June 2019 Then, after disagreements with his managers hobbled The Sun, Moon, and Herbs, which was to be a sprawling fourth album, Dr. John was persuaded to make a record of New Orleans classics. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, "Dr. John’s Reverent Subversion of New Orleans Cliché," 7 June 2019 The hybrid side of the powertrain remains the same, but the gasoline engine has been persuaded to give a little more power (328hp, so 415hp total) and torque (317ft-lbs, 494ft-lbs total). — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "The 2019 Volvo S60 is Swedish style at a surprisingly good price," 16 Oct. 2018 Wood’s husband, Frank, had persuaded fellow members of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church to sponsor the refugees. — Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, "By day, he runs for president of South Sudan. By night, he unloads trucks at Lowe’s.," 7 July 2018 In addition, Mr Pruitt seems to have persuaded aides to reserve his hotel rooms with their personal credit cards, and failed to reimburse at least one of them. — The Economist, "The list of charges against Scott Pruitt keeps growing," 5 July 2018

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