influence

1. 1.

   have and exert influence or effect

   “The artist's work influenced the young painter”

   “She worked on her friends to support the political candidate”

   Synonymsact uponwork

   Broaderaffect

   Narrowerprejudiceimprintmilitatemanipulatecolorswingblackmailcarryget atfix
2. 2.

   shape or influence; give direction to

   “experience often determines ability”

   “mold public opinion”

   Synonymsdetermineshapemoldregulate

   Broadercause

   Narrowerdisposeindisposemiscreatecarry weight
3. 3.

   induce into action by using one's charm

   “She charmed him into giving her all his money”

   Synonymscharmtempt

   Broaderpersuade

   Narrowermagnetize

Other forms of influence

plural

influences·

past tense

influenced·

present participle

influencing·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about influence

What does influence mean?

influence means "a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in influence?

influence has 3 syllables: in-flu-ence. The stress falls on "in". In IPA it is /ˈɪnfluəns/.

What is another word for influence?

Close synonyms include act upon, work, determine, shape, mold. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is influence a common word?

influence is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.