Persuade and dissuade are antonyms, which are words that have opposing meanings. They are complementary antonyms, which are contradictory words. We will examine the definitions of persuade and dissuade, where these words came from and some examples of their use in sentences.
Persuade means to talk someone into doing or believing something, to convince someone to believe or do something through reason or inducement. Persuade is a verb, related words are persuades, persuaded, persuading, the noun form is persuasion. The word persuade is derived from the Latin word persuadere meaning using talk to bring someone over.
Dissuade means to talk someone out of doing or believing something, to convince someone to disbelieve or not do something through reason or inducement. Dissuade is also a verb, related words are dissuades, dissuaded, dissuading, the noun form is dissuasion. The word dissuade is derived from the Latin word dissuadere which means to oppose through argument.
Examples
The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans is trying to persuade a federal judge to preserve a casino expansion lawsuit against the state. (U.S. News & World Report)
South Korea’s foreign ministry said Thursday it plans to persuade the European Union to exclude Asia’s fourth-largest economy from the EU’s new blacklist of tax havens. (The Korea Herald)
Fresno County Superior Court Judge W. Kent Hamlin found Walker, 52, guilty of a felony charge of corporal injury to his girlfriend, along with three felony charges of dissuading the woman from testifying against him. (The Sacramento Bee)
Reisetter said her department would like to see Iowa have two medical-marijuana production companies, but she recognizes the state law’s limits could dissuade some firms from applying. (The Des Moines Register)