Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Persuasion.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act or effort of persuading; the use of persuasive means or efforts: now chiefly in the phrase moral suasion.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of persuading; persuasion.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act of
urging orinfluencing ;persuasion .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the act of persuading (or attempting to persuade); communication intended to induce belief or action
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Sometimes, too, the central banks are able to exercise control by the specific exchange controls and by suasion, which is a very powerful weapon of the central banker over the commercial banks.
International Credit on Capital Markets Now and in the Future 1971
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As an act of moral suasion, which is how I took it, President Obama's statement about "pursue every legal avenue" to prevent their payment is fine ...
Blogrunner 2009
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For God did not employ an irresistible power by which he might prevent the bones of Christ from being broken by those who approached to break them; but by a mild kind of suasion, he caused that they should not will to break the bones of Christ, by an argument drawn from its inutility.
The Works of James Arminius, Vol. 1 1560-1609 1956
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I suspect critics who see this as an assault on academic freedom and/or free speech see this as egregious owing to the fact that this was uttered from a place of power and privilege and "suasion".
Progressive Bloggers spurs 2010
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Actually, there is reason to think that the Iranian people are not monolithically anti-American, (remember there is a jewish component among them) and my Iranian friends (many of whom had family members who suffered at SAVAK's whim, when we had far more 'suasion' in their country) assure me that there is a strong pro-Ameerican sentiment, especially among the younger, more well-educated populace.
Firedoglake 2008
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Finally, he adds, he thinks that moral suasion, education, boycotts, and the like, are the best way to deal with most types of discrimination.
The Volokh Conspiracy » So a Libertarian and a Liberal Walk into a Bar 2010
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I know that keeping the system of civil penalties instead of draconian criminal punishments will allow some discrimination to continue, but at some point, we just have to rely on moral suasion, education, boycotts, and thelike.
The Volokh Conspiracy » So a Libertarian and a Liberal Walk into a Bar 2010
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And now we must summon all of our might and moral suasion to meet the challenges of a new age.
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As an example, I favor outlawing infanticide; I favor the federalist conception, perhaps with some minimal restrictions by the federal govt. (e.g., with the federal govt. dictating to the states that no restrictions can be legislated against abortion during the first or second trimester); and generally favor moral suasion when it comes to abortion proper (in lieu of the coercive force of the legal system against abortions).
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Bernstein: ... he thinks that moral suasion, education, boycotts, and the like, are the best way to deal with most types of discrimination.
The Volokh Conspiracy » So a Libertarian and a Liberal Walk into a Bar 2010
npydyuan commented on the word suasion
I understand fully the limits of moral suasion. We have no illusion that changes will come easily or soon. But I also believe that it is a mistake to undervalue the power of words and of the ideas that words embody. In our own history, that power has ranged from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream."
- Jimmy Carter, Notre Dame commencement speech, 5/22/1977
January 8, 2008