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Persuade vs Con - What's the difference?

persuade | con |

As a verb persuade

is .

As a noun con is

cone.

persuade

English

Alternative forms

* perswade (obsolete)

Verb

(persuad)
  • To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence. Compare sway.
  • That salesman was able to persuade me into buying this bottle of lotion.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • We will persuade him, be it possible.
  • *
  • The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits. He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. Nobody would miss them, he explained.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
  • , title= England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report , passage=The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.}}
  • To urge, plead; to try to convince (someone to do something).
  • * (Bible), 2 (w) xviii. 32
  • Hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you.
  • * 1834 , (w), A Narrative of the Life of , Nebraska 1987, p. 34:
  • He persuaded me to go home, but I refused.
  • (obsolete) To convince of by argument, or by reasons offered or suggested from reflection, etc.; to cause to believe.
  • * (Bible), (w) vi. 9
  • Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you.

    Synonyms

    * convince

    Antonyms

    * dissuade

    Derived terms

    * persuasion * persuasive

    con

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) connen, from (etyl) . More at (l).

    Verb

    (conn)
  • (rare) To study, especially in order to gain knowledge of.
  • * Wordsworth
  • Fixedly did look / Upon the muddy waters which he conned / As if he had been reading in a book.
  • * Burke
  • I did not come into Parliament to con my lesson.
  • * 1963 , D'Arcy Niland, Dadda jumped over two elephants: short stories :
  • The hawk rested on a crag of the gorge and conned the terrain with a fierce and frowning eye.''
  • (rare, archaic) To know, understand, acknowledge.
  • * 1579 , , Iune:
  • Of Muses Hobbinol, I conne no skill
  • to conduct the movements of a ship at sea.
  • Etymology 2

    Abbreviation of (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A disadvantage of something, especially when contrasted with its advantages (pros ).
  • pros and cons
    Synonyms
    * disadvantage
    Antonyms
    * pro

    Etymology 3

    Shortened from (convict).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang) A convicted criminal, a convict.
  • Etymology 4

    From (con trick), shortened from (confidence trick).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang) A fraud; something carried out with the intention of deceiving, usually for personal, often illegal, gain.
  • Synonyms
    * See also

    Verb

    (conn)
  • (slang) To trick or defraud, usually for personal gain.
  • Synonyms
    * (to be conned) be sold a pup

    Etymology 5

    From earlier (cond), from (etyl) conduen, from (etyl) conduire, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • (nautical) To give the necessary orders to the helmsman to steer a ship in the required direction through a channel etc. (rather than steer a compass direction)
  • Noun

    (-)
  • (nautical) The navigational direction of a ship
  • Derived terms
    * conning tower * take the con

    Etymology 6

    or (conference).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An organized gathering such as a convention or conference.
  • See also

    * cone * mod cons