influence
Syllables: in·flu·enceUK/ˈɪn.flu.əns//ɪnˈflu.əns/
influence noun: the power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.
Noun
influence (countable and uncountable, plural influences)
- The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.
- I have absolutely no influence over him.
- The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26
- An action exerted by a person or thing with such power on another to cause change.
- I'm not able to exercise influence over him.
- Terra Firma is an Alliance political party formed after the First Contact War. Its policy agenda is based on the principle that Earth must 'stand firm' against alien influences. This covers a variety of legislation. Recent activities by Terra Firma include opposition to a law requiring high school...2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Terra Firma Party Codex entry
- A person or thing exerting such power or action.
- He has been a great influence on the voters during the elections.
- The animals were thoroughly frightened. It seemed to them as though Snowball were some kind of invisible influence, pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of dangers.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
- An element believed to determine someone's character or individual tendencies, caused by the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth.
- The action of flowing in; influx.
- God hath his influence into the very essence of all things.[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
- Electrostatic induction.
Verb
influence (third-person singular simple present influences, present participle influencing, simple past and past participle influenced)
- 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.
- To cause to flow in or into; infuse; instill.
influence meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
influence in Hindi
- power to affect, control or manipulate
- प्रभाव prabhāv, असर asar
influence in Tamil
- influence, power
- செல்வாக்கு celvākku, ஆட்டம் āṭṭam
- influence
- நடமாட்டம் naṭamāṭṭam
influence in Marathi
- influence, power, mightiness
- प्रभाव prabhāv
- influence, hold
- पगडा pagḍā
influence in Urdu
- power to affect, control or manipulate
- اَثَر asar, نُفُوذ nufūz, تاثِیر tāsīr
More languagesFewer languages
- influence in Bengali
- প্রভাব probhab, আসর aśor
- influence in Telugu
- ప్రభావము prabhāvamu
- influence in Malayalam
- സ്വാധീനം svādhīnaṁ, സ്വാധീനിക്കുക svādhīnikkuka
- influence in Kannada
- ಪ್ರಭಾವ, ಪ್ರಾಬಲ್ಯ, ಮಹಿಮೆ, ಪ್ರಭಾವ ಬೀರಬಲ್ಲ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ
- influence in Punjabi
- پرچھاواں parchāvāṉ
- influence in Odia
- ଜାରି jāri
- influence in Pashto
- نفوذ nofūz
- influence in Tagalog
- impluwensiya
- influence in Arabic
- نَفُوذ nafūḏ, تَأْثِير taʔṯīr, أَثَّرَ ʔaṯṯara
- influence in Malay
- pengaruh
- influence in Indonesian
- pengaruh, dampak
- influence in Thai
- อิทธิพล ìt-tí-pon
- influence in Vietnamese
- ảnh hưởng
- influence in Myanmar
- လွှမ်းမိုးမှု hlwam:mui:hmu., လွှမ်းမိုး hlwam:mui:
Examples of influence in a sentence
- The American Revolution has influenced every democratic process in Europe since the 19th c.
- Houses in New Mexico, California and Florida exhibit a strong Hispanic architectural influence.
- The spelling in 'sovereign' was influenced by folk-etymology association with 'reign'.
Synonyms of influence
Forms of influence
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | influences |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | influences |
| present participle | influencing |
| past participle | influenced |
| past | influenced |
Origin of influence
Inherited from Middle English influence, from Old French influence, borrowed from Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns + -ia. Doublet of influenza.
Words formed from influence
- agent of influence
- area of influence
- bad influence
- influenceless
- influence machine
- influence peddling
- kidfluence
- malinfluence
- noninfluence
- sphere of influence
- trading in influence
- traffic of influence
- under the influence
- undue influence
- uninfluence
- coinfluence
- counterinfluence
- influencer
- misinfluence
- thinkfluence
- influenceability
- influenceable
- influencee
- influencive
- interinfluence
- noninfluencing
- outinfluence
- overinfluence
- reinfluence
- uninfluencing
Phrases with influence
Questions about influence
- What does influence mean?
- Influence means the power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.
- What is influence in Hindi?
- Influence in Hindi is प्रभाव (prabhāv), असर (asar). See Influence meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is influence?
- Influence can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce influence?
- Influence is pronounced /ˈɪn.flu.əns/ (UK).
- What is the plural of influence?
- The plural of influence is influences.
Words near influence in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: influence (page history and authors); ஆட்டம் (Tamil) (page history and authors); पगडा (Marathi) (page history and authors); influence (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); پرچھاواں (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ଜାରି (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-influence.ogg.
Cite this entry: “influence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/influence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.