Converse

//kənˈvɜːs// adj, name, noun, verb

adj, name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Free verbal interchange of thoughts or views; conversation; chat. literary, uncountable

    "Twice ere the sun descends, with zeal inspir'd, / From the vain converse of the world retir'd, / She reads the psalms and chapters for the day […]"

  2. 2
    The opposite or reverse.
  3. 3
    a proposition obtained by conversion wordnet
  4. 4
    Of a proposition or theorem consisting of a statement of the form "If A is true, then B is true", the statement "If B is true, then A is true" which need not be equivalent to the first one.

    "All trout are fish, but the converse, that all fish are trout, is not true."

  5. 5
    One of a pair of terms that name or describe a relationship from opposite perspectives; converse antonym; relational antonym.
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  1. 6
    Synonym of transpose.
Verb
  1. 1
    To talk; to engage in conversation. formal, intransitive

    "Companions[…] That do converse and waste the time together."

  2. 2
    carry on a conversation wordnet
  3. 3
    To keep company; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune.

    "To seek the distant hills, and there converse With nature."

  4. 4
    To have knowledge of something, from long talk or study. obsolete

    "according as the objects they converse with afford greater or less variety"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Opposite; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal. not-comparable

    "a converse proposition"

Adjective
  1. 1
    turned about in order or relation wordnet
  2. 2
    of words so related that one reverses the relation denoted by the other wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A shoe of an American-based brand of that name.

Synonyms

All synonyms
discourseantonymoustalkconversateconvoaddress

Example

More examples

"Passengers shall not converse with the driver while the bus is in motion."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Old French converser, from Latin conversor (“live, have dealings with”).

Etymology 2

From Latin conversus (“turned around”), past participle of converto (“turn about”).

Etymology 3

The athletic equipment company is named after its founder, Marquis Mills Converse.

Related phrases

Converse Countyconverse antonymrelational antonym

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.