dissuade

/dəˈsweɪd/

/dɪˈsweɪd/

Other forms: dissuaded; dissuading; dissuades

When you dissuade someone, you convince that person not to do something: “When Caroline saw Peter's broken leg, she tried to dissuade him from going on the ski trip.”

Remember the meaning of dissuade by comparing it to its more common relative persuade. The suade part that both words share has origins in the Latin root suadēre, meaning “to urge.” In the case of persuade, the prefix per- means “thoroughly,” intensifying “to urge” and giving persuade its meaning of “to convince.” Think of dissuade as the opposite of persuade: the prefix dis- reverses the action of the root, giving the meaning of not urging, in other words, convincing someone NOT to do something.

Definitions of dissuade

1. verb

   turn away from by persuasion
   “Negative campaigning will only dissuade people”

   synonyms: deter

   antonyms:

   persuade

   cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm

   types:

   talk out of

   persuade someone not to do something

   type of:

   advise, counsel, rede

   give advice to