Persuasive

How to spell persuasive

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce persuasive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does persuasive mean?

1. adjectiveGood at convincing people to believe something or to take a particular course of action.

Persuasive in a sentence

• The lawyer made a persuasive case for dropping the charges.

• Her persuasive email finally won the budget approval.

Where does persuasive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb persuadere, meaning 'to convince thoroughly' or 'to urge fully'. It was built from the intensifying prefix per-, meaning 'thoroughly' or 'completely', joined to suadere, which meant 'to advise, recommend, or urge'. That root suadere is connected to the idea of something being pleasant or sweet, the notion being that you win someone over by making a course of action seem agreeable. English took the adjective in during the fifteenth century, by way of Old French persuasif, from the Latin past participle stem persuas-. The same suas- stem still surfaces in the related word 'dissuade', its opposite, where dis- reverses the urging. The single 's' that produces the 'zh'-like sound in the middle is the spot most writers second-guess, since the spelling keeps one 's' where the ear might expect a doubled or 'z' letter.

How the word is built

• per- (thoroughly)
• suas- (from suadere: to advise, urge)
• -ive (adjective suffix: tending to)