persuasive
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.good at making you believe that something is true or making you want to do something.
adj.having the power or ability to convince someone to believe or do something through reasoning or use of temptation.
Simple“The salesman gave a very persuasive speech about why we needed a new car.”
In context“The lawyer presented a persuasive argument that relied heavily on forensic evidence rather than emotional appeals to the jury.”
UsageCommonly modifies nouns like 'argument', 'speech', 'evidence', or 'person'.
SynonymsAntonymsunconvincingweak - 02 C2 Proficiency
n.something that encourages or pushes you to act.
n.a thing that persuades or provides an incitement to action.
Simple“The promise of a bonus acted as a persuasive for the staff to work harder.”
In context“In classical rhetoric, the orator must identify the specific persuasives that will resonate most deeply with a skeptical audience.”
Teacher's tipThis noun sense is extremely rare in modern English; learners should almost always use 'persuasive' as an adjective.
“Although his words don’t survive today, he must have been quite persuasive because he was acquitted and released.”
“The court found none of these arguments persuasive.”
From Middle French persuasif, from Medieval Latin persuāsīvus, from Latin past participle stem of persuādēre + -īvus.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.