Definition of SUASION

Examples of suasion in a Sentence

a defense lawyer uses not only legal arguments but also moral suasion to appeal to a jury's sense of right and wrong

Recent Examples on the Web There is always moral suasion — but this can seem weak and pathetic. — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, "Turkey, NATO, and a Shifting World," 7 Nov. 2019 But Pope Francis, the greenest pontiff to date, has ultimate control over the Vatican Bank’s $3bn-worth of assets—and a bully pulpit to exercise moral suasion over much more. — The Economist, "Climate capitalists have serious money in climate-friendly investments," 19 Sep. 2019 That lack of experience is almost certain to make Ratcliffe an ineffective DNI, a position that has little direct power and whose few levers and moral suasion only Clapper—the longest-serving DNI yet—managed to handle effectively. — Garrett M. Graff, WIRED, "The Danger of John Ratcliffe," 30 July 2019 Officials have also resorted to moral suasion to prevent money from leaving. — Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, "Has the Big Yuan Short Finally Arrived?," 26 June 2018 Liberal states have an obligation to expose and chastise this export of oppression, however limited their tools of suasion. — The Economist, "Does China’s digital police state have echoes in the West?," 31 May 2018 Recent revelations around the improper acquisition of millions of Facebook users’ data for the purposes of political suasion do not inspire much confidence in the social network’s ability to protect people’s personal information. — Robert Hackett, Fortune, "Cyber Saturday—The Case For and Against #DeleteFacebook," 24 Mar. 2018 This assumes that there is a finite pool of military power and economic influence and diplomatic suasion, and therefore the material or soft-power gains of one of these three powers is made at the expense of one or two of the others. — chicagotribune.com, "America's military is nostalgic for great-power wars," 13 Mar. 2018 For all its powers of lawmaking, war making, budget drafting and diplomacy, the presidency also embodies the power of moral suasion. — Leonard Pitts, Alaska Dispatch News, "Much of America repudiates the president," 22 Aug. 2017

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