Perplexity (L. per, through, and plecto, plait) is the drawing or turning of the thoughts or faculties by turns in different directions or toward contrasted or contradictory conclusions; confusion (L. confusus, from confundo, pour together) is a state in which the mental faculties are, as it were, thrown into chaos, so that the clear and distinct action of the different powers, as of perception, memory, reason, and will is lost; bewilderment is akin to confusion, but is less overwhelming, and more readily recovered from; perplexity, accordingly, has not the unsettling of the faculties implied in confusion, nor the overwhelming of the faculties implied in amazement or astonishment; it is not the magnitude of the things to be known, but the want of full and definite knowledge, that causes perplexity. The dividing of a woodland path may cause the traveler the greatest perplexity, which may become bewilderment when he has tried one path after another and lost his bearings completely. With an excitable person bewilderment may deepen into confusion that will make him unable to think clearly or even to see or hear distinctly. Amazement results from the sudden and unimagined occurrence of great good or evil or[271] the sudden awakening of the mind to unthought-of truth. Astonishment often produces bewilderment, which the word was formerly understood to imply. Compare [AMAZEMENT]; [ANXIETY]; [DOUBT].
PERSUADE.
Synonyms:
| allure, | dispose, | incline, | move, |
| bring over, | entice, | induce, | prevail on or upon, |
| coax, | impel, | influence, | urge, |
| convince, | incite, | lead, | win over. |
Of these words convince alone has no direct reference to moving the will, denoting an effect upon the understanding only; one may be convinced of his duty without doing it, or he may be convinced of truth that has no manifest connection with duty or action, as of a mathematical proposition. To persuade is to bring the will of another to a desired decision by some influence exerted upon it short of compulsion; one may be convinced that the earth is round; he may be persuaded to travel round it; but persuasion is so largely dependent upon conviction that it is commonly held to be the orator's work first to convince in order that he may persuade. Coax is a slighter word than persuade, seeking the same end by shallower methods, largely by appeal to personal feeling, with or without success; as, a child coaxes a parent to buy him a toy. One may be brought over, induced, or prevailed upon by means not properly included in persuasion, as by bribery or intimidation; he is won over chiefly by personal influence. Compare [INFLUENCE].
Antonyms:
| deter, | discourage, | dissuade, | hinder, | hold back, | repel, | restrain. |