influence
/ˈɪn.flu.əns/ verb B2- To have an effect on by using gentle or subtle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to persuade or induce. · The politician wants to influence the public.· I must admit that this book influenced my outlook on life.
- To exert, make use of one's influence.
He/she/it influences · Past influenced · Past participle influenced · -ing form influencing
Verb forms
- Base form
- influence
- He/she/it
- influences
- Past
- influenced
- Past participle
- influenced
- -ing form
- influencing
From the library
The curtain rose on the ballet, which was one of those excellent specimens of the Italian school, admirably arranged and put on the stage by Henri, who has established for himself a great reputation throughout Italy for his taste and skill in the choreographic art—one of those masterly productions of grace, method, and elegance in which the whole corps de ballet, from the principal dancers to the humblest supernumerary, are all engaged on the stage at the same time; and a hundred and fifty persons may be seen exhibiting the same attitude, or elevating the same arm or leg with a simultaneous movement, that would lead you to suppose that but one mind, one act of volition, influenced the moving mass.
“What influence can I possibly have over a bandit?”
He was about to marry a young and charming woman, whom he loved, not passionately, but reasonably, as became a deputy attorney of the king; and besides her personal attractions, which were very great, Mademoiselle de Saint-Méran’s family possessed considerable political influence, which they would, of course, exert in his favor.
I sometimes think she’d have more of an influence for good, as you say yourself, if she didn’t keep nagging people to do right.
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