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• converse
  converse

  verb (used without object)

  to talk informally with another or others; exchange views, opinions, etc., by talking.
• Converse
  Converse

  noun

  Frederick Shepherd 1871–1940, U.S. composer.

converse

¹ American  

[kuhn-vurs, kon-vurs] / kənˈvɜrs, ˈkɒn vɜrs /

verb (used without object)

• converses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conversed,
  past participle,  past
• conversing
  present participle

1. to talk informally with another or others; exchange views, opinions, etc., by talking.

   Synonyms:

   jaw, gab, talk, confer, chat

2. Archaic. to maintain a familiar association (usually followed bywith ).

3. Obsolete. to have sexual intercourse (usually followed bywith ).

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noun

1. familiar discourse or talk; conversation.

converse ² American  

[kuhn-vurs, kon-vurs, kon-vurs] / kənˈvɜrs, ˈkɒn vɜrs, ˈkɒn vɜrs /

adjective

1. opposite or contrary in direction, action, sequence, etc.; turned around.

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noun

1. something opposite or contrary.

2. Logic.

   1. a proposition obtained from another proposition by conversion.

   2. the relation between two terms, one of which is related to the other in a given manner, as “younger than” to “older than.”

3. a group of words correlative with a preceding group but having a significant pair of terms interchanged, as “hot in winter but cold in summer” and “cold in winter but hot in summer.”

Converse ³ American  

[kon-vurs] / ˈkɒn vɜrs /

noun

1. Frederick Shepherd 1871–1940, U.S. composer.

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converse ¹ British  

verb

1. to engage in conversation (with)

2. to commune spiritually (with)

3. obsolete

   1. to associate; consort

   2. to have sexual intercourse

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noun

1. conversation (often in the phrase hold converse with )

2. obsolete

   1. fellowship or acquaintance

   2. sexual intercourse

converse ² British  

/ ˈkɒnvɜːs /

adjective

1. (prenominal) reversed; opposite; contrary

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noun

1. something that is opposite or contrary

2. logic

   1. a categorical proposition obtained from another by the transposition of subject and predicate, as no bad man is bald from no bald man is bad

   2. a proposition so derived, possibly by weakening a universal proposition to the corresponding particular, as some socialists are rich from all rich men are socialists

3. logic maths a relation that holds between two relata only when a given relation holds between them in reverse order: thus father of is the converse of son of

Synonym Usage

See speak.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• converser
  noun
• conversely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• conversing
  present
• conversed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• converse
  simple
• converses
  simple
• have conversed
  perfect
• has conversed
  perfect
• am conversing
  progressive
• are conversing
  progressive
• is conversing
  progressive
• have been conversing
  perfect progressive
• has been conversing
  perfect progressive

Past

• conversed
  simple
• had conversed
  perfect
• was conversing
  progressive
• were conversing
  progressive
• had been conversing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will converse
  simple
• will have conversed
  perfect
• will be conversing
  progressive
• will have been conversing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of converse¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English conversen, from Middle French converser, from Latin conversārī “to associate with”; see con-, verse

Origin of converse²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English convers, from Anglo-French or directly from Latin conversus, past participle of convertere “to turn around,” equivalent to con- “with, together” + vert- “to turn” + -tus past participle suffix; cf. convert ¹

Explanation

Converse is a more formal way of saying "carry on a conversation." You could converse with your best friend for hours over lunch, but continue the chit-chat through the afternoon matinee and you might get shushed. Oddly enough, converse was originally a verb meaning “to move about, live or dwell” when it first came into existence in the mid 14th century. But today we only use converse to talk about, well, talking. Quipped the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “When marrying, one should ask oneself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this woman into your old age?” A good question for marrying men and women!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

converse Converse converses conversed conversing

The purpose is for nations to debate and for adversaries to converse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

Meanwhile, a separate team of coders that made Moltbook, a Reddit-like pseudo social network where OpenClaw agents converse, are joining Meta.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

AI chatbots like ChatGPT learned to converse, make music, generate images, and write code by using all the information they could get from the internet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026

In a converse way, Kay and Down’s reluctance to be so clean, so shiny and so heteronormative with their characters is just as forward-thinking as any media that conjures a conventional picture of equality.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026

“Alf,” she said, once she realized they could converse, “can you tell me the name of this ship?”

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Derdenger suggests Mbappé's move had parallels to Jordan's decision decades earlier to choose Nike over Converse and Adidas due to the opportunity for the athlete to become synonymous with one brand.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

You may have seen Elsesser’s face staring back in brand campaigns for everyone from Calvin Klein to Tommy Hilfiger or bought his signature line of Converse skate shoes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

Authorities also found a Converse Chuck Taylor shoe impression on the edge of the roof of the building from which the gunman fired.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Investors instead zeroed in on declining profit, softer sales in Greater China, and a 30% slump in revenue for the Converse footwear brand.

From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026

But because Petey was Petey, she had paired the wings and mask with a white T-shirt, a pair of cut-offs, and Converse gym shoes.

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby

But Domingo, who converses with Kościuszko in English, is also a bit of an anachronism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

Subconsciously hearing the words of Shakespeare, Wednesday’s mind travels to a spooky dream state where she converses with a spirit guide and is then told to “wake up,” which she does.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2025

She converses with the corpse of her father, apparently a chancellor before her, rotting away in a glass coffin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2024

Rizzs listened to all the games he’s missed on radio or watched on television, and converses knowledgeable about the recent outings of Bryce Miller and Logan Gilbert.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

Their waiter stops at their table and converses briefly with Widget, paying no notice to the man in the grey suit.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Dong Jun, and Hegseth both attended the Xi-Trump summit in Beijing and conversed at a state banquet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

After play readings last fall that launched the theater, cast members and theatergoers mingled and conversed on the patio outside the building.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025

Norman said he conversed with Trump twice on Friday.

From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2025

The actor conversed with Evans in anticipation of his upcoming Apple TV+ drama series “Bad Monkey.”

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2024

While the soldier and Mr. 13-04 conversed quietly of small things—cheese eaten which had to be replaced—I surveyed the pieces.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

During the pandemic, some employees would spent their lunch breaks conversing with the chatbots for fun, Zinger said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Before her departure, Keyser appeared in the first 20 minutes of Thursday's episode, conversing with one of the male contestants before appearing briefly in two further non-speaking scenes.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

Tray tables had one purpose: to be unfolded before a TV set so that instead of conversing with others around a dining-room table, people could eat while mutely staring at a TV screen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

He came to see innovation arising not from like-minded or similarly trained people conversing with each other, but from a friction of ideas and approaches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026

“Yes, yes,” said Mr. Clutter, as though conversing with himself.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote