Standard Lemma guide

persuasive

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /pə(ɹ)ˈsweɪsɪv/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Mid-Atlantic, US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P ER0 S W EY1 S IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Able to persuade; convincing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cogent, convincing, flexanimous, inducing, inducive, inductious, persuadable, persuading, persuasible, pleaful, psychagogic, psychagogical, suading, suasorian, suasory

Antonyms: dehortative, dehortatory, dehorting, dissuading, dissuasive, retractive, unconvincing, unpersuasive

2

noun

Meaning 2

That which persuades; incitement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

intended or having the power to induce action or belief

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • persuasive eloquence
  • a most persuasive speaker
  • a persuasive argument

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: dissuasive

History

Etymology

From Middle French persuasif, from Medieval Latin persuāsīvus, from Latin past participle stem of persuādēre + -īvus.

Across languages

Translations

43 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُقْنِع (muqniʕ) — convincing
  • Armenian: համոզիչ (hamozičʻ) — convincing
  • Azerbaijani: tutarlı — convincing
  • Azerbaijani: inandırıcı — convincing
  • Azerbaijani: qaneedici — convincing
  • Azerbaijani: sübutlu — convincing
  • Azerbaijani: əsaslı — convincing
  • Bulgarian: убедителен (ubeditelen) — convincing
  • Catalan: persuasiu — convincing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 有說服力的 /有说服力的 (yǒu shuōfúlì de) — convincing
  • Czech: přesvědčivý — convincing
  • Esperanto: persvada — convincing
  • Finnish: suostutteleva — convincing
  • Finnish: vakuuttava — convincing
  • French: persuasif — convincing
  • French: convaincant — convincing
  • Galician: persuasivo — convincing
  • Galician: persuasor — convincing
  • German: überzeugend — convincing
  • German: Überredungs- — convincing
  • Greek: πειστικός (peistikós) — convincing
  • Ancient Greek: πειθός (peithós) — convincing
  • Ancient Greek: πειστικός (peistikós) — convincing
  • Ancient Greek: πιθανός (pithanós) — convincing
  • Kalmyk: эвлүн (evlün) — convincing
  • Latin: suāsōrius — convincing
  • Polish: przekonujący — convincing
  • Polish: przekonywający — convincing
  • Portuguese: persuasivo — convincing
  • Portuguese: persuasível — convincing
  • Portuguese: convincente — convincing
  • Portuguese: persuasório — convincing
  • Romanian: convingător — convincing
  • Romanian: persuasiv — convincing
  • Russian: убеди́тельный (ubedítelʹnyj) — convincing
  • Serbo-Croatian: persuazivan — convincing
  • Serbo-Croatian: uvjerljiv — convincing
  • Spanish: persuasivo — convincing
  • Spanish: convincente — convincing
  • Spanish: persuasor — convincing
  • Spanish: persuasorio — convincing
  • Spanish: suasorio — convincing
  • Swedish: övertygande — convincing