INFLUENCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does influence mean? 

• INFLUENCE (noun)
  The noun INFLUENCE has 5 senses:

1. a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc

2. causing something without any direct or apparent effort

3. a cognitive factor that tends to have an effect on what you do

4. the effect of one thing (or person) on another

5. one having power to influence another

  Familiarity information: INFLUENCE used as a noun is common.

• INFLUENCE (verb)
  The verb INFLUENCE has 3 senses:

1. have and exert influence or effect

2. shape or influence; give direction to

3. induce into action by using one's charm

  Familiarity information: INFLUENCE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INFLUENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

used her parents' influence to get the job

Hypernyms ("influence" is a kind of...):

power; powerfulness (possession of controlling influence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "influence"):

dead hand; dead hand of the past; mortmain (the oppressive influence of past events or decisions)

force (a powerful effect or influence)

grasp; grip (an intellectual hold or understanding)

Derivation:

influence (induce into action by using one's charm)

influence (have and exert influence or effect)

influential (having or exercising influence or power)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Causing something without any direct or apparent effort

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("influence" is a kind of...):

causation; causing (the act of causing something to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "influence"):

exposure (the act of subjecting someone to an influencing experience)

encroachment; impact; impingement (influencing strongly)

manipulation; use (exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage)

hypnotism; mesmerism; suggestion (the act of inducing hypnosis)

enticement; temptation (the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire)

cross-pollination (stimulating influence among diverse elements)

Derivation:

influence (shape or influence; give direction to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A cognitive factor that tends to have an effect on what you do

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

her wishes had a great influence on his thinking

Hypernyms ("influence" is a kind of...):

causal factor; determinant; determinative; determiner; determining factor (a determining or causal element or factor)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "influence"):

morale builder (something or someone who influences by building or strengthening morale)

enticement; temptation (something that seduces or has the quality to seduce)

support (something providing immaterial assistance to a person or cause or interest)

canker; pestilence (a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of)

imprint (a distinctive influence)

imponderable (a factor whose effects cannot be accurately assessed)

Derivation:

influence (have and exert influence or effect)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The effect of one thing (or person) on another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Context example:

the influence of mechanical action

Hypernyms ("influence" is a kind of...):

consequence; effect; event; issue; outcome; result; upshot (a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "influence"):

perturbation ((physics) a secondary influence on a system that causes it to deviate slightly)

purchase (a means of exerting influence or gaining advantage)

wind (a tendency or force that influences events)

Derivation:

influence (have and exert influence or effect)

influential (having or exercising influence or power)

influence (induce into action by using one's charm)

influence (shape or influence; give direction to)

Sense 5

Meaning:

One having power to influence another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he was a bad influence on the children

Hypernyms ("influence" is a kind of...):

force; power (one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority)

Derivation:

influence (shape or influence; give direction to)

influence (induce into action by using one's charm)

influence (have and exert influence or effect)

influential (having or exercising influence or power)

• INFLUENCE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they influence    ... he / she / it influences   
Past simple: influenced   
Past participle: influenced   
-ing form: influencing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have and exert influence or effect

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

act upon; influence; work

Context example:

She worked on her friends to support the political candidate

Hypernyms (to "influence" is one way to...):

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "influence"):

dominate (be in control)

fix (influence an event or its outcome by illegal means)

get at (influence by corruption)

carry; persuade; sway (win approval or support for)

blackjack; blackmail; pressure (exert pressure on someone through threats)

swing; swing over (influence decisively)

color; colour (modify or bias)

manipulate; pull strings; pull wires (influence or control shrewdly or deviously)

militate (have force or influence; bring about an effect or change)

form; imprint (establish or impress firmly in the mind)

prejudice; prepossess (influence (somebody's) opinion in advance)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

influence (a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc)

influence (a cognitive factor that tends to have an effect on what you do)

influence (one having power to influence another)

influence (the effect of one thing (or person) on another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Shape or influence; give direction to

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

determine; influence; mold; regulate; shape

Context example:

mold public opinion

Hypernyms (to "influence" is one way to...):

cause; do; make (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "influence"):

miscreate (shape or form or make badly)

predetermine (determine beforehand)

pace (regulate or set the pace of)

index (adjust through indexation)

time (set the speed, duration, or execution of)

decide (influence or determine)

carry weight (have influence to a specified degree)

disincline; indispose (make unwilling)

dispose; incline (make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief)

reshape (shape anew or differently)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something
Somebody ----s whether INFINITIVE

Derivation:

influence (causing something without any direct or apparent effort)

influence (one having power to influence another)

influence (the effect of one thing (or person) on another)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Induce into action by using one's charm

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

charm; influence; tempt

Context example:

She charmed him into giving her all his money

Hypernyms (to "influence" is one way to...):

persuade (cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "influence"):

bewitch; magnetise; magnetize; mesmerise; mesmerize; spellbind (attract strongly, as if with a magnet)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody into V-ing something

Sentence example:

They influence him to write the letter

Derivation:

influence (a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc)

influence (one having power to influence another)

influence (the effect of one thing (or person) on another)

 Context examples 

Then who could this American be, and why should he possess so much influence over her?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“She broke away from your influence when she found the man that you are,” said Holmes, sternly.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mrs. Harker yielded to the hypnotic influence even less readily than this morning.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“Very well, Mr. Copperfield,” said Mr. Spenlow, “I must try my influence with my daughter.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Holmes and I had listened with the utmost interest to this extraordinary statement, which had been delivered in the jerky, broken fashion of a man who is under the influence of extreme emotions.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Eclipses have a much longer period of influence than a regular new or full moon, so that’s why they are so important to take seriously.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

We would not influence your choice in any way; but you are our daughter, and we could not bear to see you make a marriage such as this.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I felt an inward power; a sense of influence, which supported me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It was only the moderating influence of the presence of large numbers of ladies which prevented an absolute riot.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could think of you only as one who had yielded, who had given me up, who had been influenced by any one rather than by me.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)