Dissuasive

//dɪˈsweɪzɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    That which dissuades; a disincentive.

    "Among other particulars which constituted the unfitness of things in Mr Square's opinion, danger and difficulty were two. The difficulty therefore which he apprehended there might be in corrupting this young wench, and the danger which would accrue to his character on the discovery, were such strong dissuasives, that it is probable he at first intended to have contented himself with the pleasing ideas which the sight of beauty furnishes us with."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Tending to dissuade, or divert from a measure or purpose; dehortatory.

    "When Nkem stepped forward to ask him a question, he made a dissuasive gesture with his gun, making Nkem jump back immediately."

Adjective
  1. 1
    deterring from action wordnet

Example

More examples

"When Nkem stepped forward to ask him a question, he made a dissuasive gesture with his gun, making Nkem jump back immediately."

Etymology

From Middle French dissuasif.

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