Persuasive
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 That which persuades; incitement.
"He smiled a very knowing smile, and setting up a halloo, and shaking his leathern thong, away we went at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour. I had no occasion to go further with my persuasives; the pace was kept up, […]"
- 1 Able to persuade; convincing.
"But I'm pretty persuasive, and I've learned how elected officials think. I know how to press their buttons."
- 1 intended or having the power to induce action or belief wordnet
Example
More examples"That would be twenty-seven words instead of four, and while the bare message of the longer statement would be understood, the persuasive force would be lost."
Etymology
From Middle French persuasif, from Medieval Latin persuāsīvus, from Latin past participle stem of persuādēre + -īvus.
Related phrases
More for "persuasive"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.