What does dissuade mean?
To dissuade is to persuade someone not to do something, typically by offering reasons, warnings, or advice against a particular course of action. The verb is always transitive: you dissuade a person, most commonly using the pattern 'dissuade someone from doing something', as in 'she dissuaded her brother from selling the family house'. Dissuade sits at the formal end of everyday vocabulary; in casual speech people more often say they talked someone out of something, while deter and discourage cover related ground but imply prevention rather than persuasion. The word's connotations are generally benign — dissuasion suggests concern for the person being advised rather than manipulation or coercion. It derives from Latin roots meaning to 'urge apart' or 'advise away', the mirror image of persuade, which urges someone toward action. This elegant symmetry makes dissuade a precise and valuable term for describing the gentle art of changing someone's mind before an act, rather than after.
verbTo persuade someone not to do something by advising or reasoning against it.
- To advise or urge someone not to take a course of action; to talk someone out of doing something.
"Her parents dissuaded her from dropping out of medical school."
"Despite his friends' efforts to dissuade him, he quit his job and moved abroad."
"The doctor managed to dissuade the patient from self-medicating."
Dissuade literally means to 'urge away' — the same Latin root that gives us 'sweet' and 'suave' was flipped into a word for talking someone out of things.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dissuade
Dissuade entered English in the early 15th century, borrowed from Latin 'dissuadere', formed from 'dis-' (apart, away) and 'suadere' (to urge, advise). The root 'swād-' behind 'suadere' also gave Latin 'suavis' (sweet) — the same ancient root that yields English 'sweet', 'suave', and 'assuage'. Its direct counterpart, 'persuade', shares the identical root but replaces 'dis-' with 'per-' (thoroughly), creating a natural antonym pair from the very start.
Related word forms
How dissuade is actually used
Dissuade is somewhat formal in register and typically appears with the pattern 'dissuade someone from something'. It carries a connotation of well-intentioned advice rather than coercion — one dissuades through reasoning, not force. It is almost always used transitively with a person as the direct object.
Easily confused with dissuade
Persuade means to convince someone TO do something, while dissuade means to convince someone NOT to do something.