dissuade

verb

dis·​suade di-ˈswād 

dissuaded; dissuading

transitive verb

1

a

: to advise (a person) against something

… dissuading us from base thoughts, low ends, ignoble gains …

—A. T. Quiller-Couch

b

archaic : to advise against (an action)

2

: to turn from something by persuasion

unable to dissuade him from going

dissuader noun

Synonyms

• deter
• discourage
• inhibit

Examples of dissuade in a Sentence

Our warnings did not dissuade them.

tried to dissuade her from her intention to drop out of college

Recent Examples on the Web

The city of Venice in Italy introduced a new charge attempting to dissuade those visiting the city for day trips. —Joel Thayer, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025

The Biden administration used that law at an unprecedented scale, including to dissuade migrants from traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border. —Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2025

But so did policies in Mexico, which has sought to dissuade migrants, largely from other Latin American countries, from reaching the U.S. border. —Simon Romero, New York Times, 20 Jan. 2025

Other similarities include lax regulations that fail to dissuade wildland builders. —David Marston, The Denver Post, 14 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle French or Latin; Middle French dissuader, from Latin dissuadēre, from dis- + suadēre to urge — more at sweet

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

dissuade

verb

dis·​suade dis-ˈwād 

dissuaded; dissuading

: to persuade or advise not to do something