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to dissuade

to dissuade

35 6.0
To try to stop someone from doing something by talking to them
  • verb
  • /dɪˈsweɪd/
translation icon : disuadir (a alguien de)
  • I tried to dissuade him from investing in that risky startup.
  • try to dissuade
  • an attempt to dissuade
  • efforts to dissuade

And it obviously didn't dissuade him from trying again.

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Examples

  • Josh starts his car, but the officer dissuades him from leaving by removing his gun.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • And he says he knew then that nothing was going to dissuade me from trying to be a performer.

  • Or in fact, you know, people tried to dissuade me from doing them, but very few of them require any risk.

  • I would really try to dissuade you guys from going down that path.

  • Is there nothing I can do to dissuade you from this?

  • Concerned, she wrote back that same day to dissuade him, asking: "But how will you earn a living?"

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Lack of access to such a collection of instruments should not dissuade teachers from attempting such a project.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Don't let the fact that my door's closed dissuade you in any way from entering my office.

  • I don't say any of these things to ever dissuade you from pursuing your goals, ever.

  • I try to dissuade them from these childish notions, but as you know, art is pain.

Synonyms

to discourage
vsto dissuade
257 3.5

To try to stop something by making people less willing to do it

relies on direct persuasion and advice rather than lowering confidence
to talk out of
vsto dissuade
120 4.0

Change someone's mind so they do not do something

is the single-word verb used to advise against an action
to deter
vsto dissuade
94 5.6

Make someone less likely to do something by making them fear bad results

uses persuasion and advice instead of threat or fear
to admonish
vsto dissuade
31 6.8

To tell someone firmly to change or improve their behavior

aims to persuade against a specific act rather than general behavior correction
to disincline
vsto dissuade
  • Formal
7.9

To make someone not want to do something

uses active persuasion and advice to stop that action

Antonyms

472 2.7

To make someone agree or do something by giving reasons

How Persuasive

to deter
94 5.6
to dissuade
35 6.0
to discourage
257 3.5

Surface Forms

dissuade infinitive
dissuaded past
dissuaded past participle
dissuading present participle
dissuades third person singular

Morphology

dissuade = persuade (semi-transparent) = dis + suade

The prefix 'dis-' suggests negation, but the root 'suade' is not independently recognizable, making it partially opaque.

Etymology

The word dissuade comes from the parts dis- meaning 'away' and suadere meaning 'to advise'. It is like the opposite of persuade, so to dissuade someone is to advise them 'away' from doing something.