VocabauraVOCABAURA

induce

verb

Simple meaning

Cause to do.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihndoos

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪnˈdus

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner

    “The ads induced me to buy a VCR.”

  2. transitive

    To cause, bring about, lead to.

  3. Cause to arise

  4. transitive

    To lead by persuasion or influence; incite or prevail upon.

  5. transitive

    To induce the labour of (a pregnant woman).

  6. Reason or establish by induction

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner

Used this way, induce is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“The ads induced me to buy a VCR.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use induce

  • “The ads induced me to buy a VCR.”verb

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “induce”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

induce vomitingever inducethus induce

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • make

    To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what.

  • get

    To cause to do.

  • rush

    To cause to move or act with unusual haste.

  • cause

    Give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally.

  • hasten

    To cause some scheduled event to happen earlier.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • inducedadjectiveInflected form

    Brought about or caused.

  • inducingnounInflected form

    Act of bringing about a desired result.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • inducementnounDerived noun

    A positive motivational influence.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • induced abortionnounCompound term

    A deliberate termination of pregnancy.

  • self-inducedadjectiveCompound term

    Produced by electrical self-induction.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • induction heatingnounRelated term

    The heating of a conducting material caused by an electric current induced in it.

  • inductance unitnounRelated term

    A measure of the property of an electric circuit by which an electromotive force is induced in it.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “induce” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.