If a person, a reason, or a piece of writing is persuasive, it is able to make other people believe something, or do what you ask. A persuasive argument gives reasons that actually move you. A persuasive person does not have to shout; they make you want to agree. You will meet this word a lot at school (a persuasive essay), in selling, and in everyday talk about people. It can describe a speech, a smile, a price, or a whole person. Though actually, being persuasive is not the same as being right: a story can be persuasive and still not be true. It is almost always an adjective in modern English, natural in both speech and writing.