What is the word for “changing one’s opinion”?
I’m looking for something similar to concede, but that implies that the person knew the right answer all along but was just pretending that the answer was something else. What if I want to imply that the person was sure of something, but something changed what he thought?
More specifically, the sentence I’m writing is
He thought this . . . but after being criticized, he __ that the critics were correct".
It’s actually a negative effect, his way of thinking permanently changed due to criticism (and I’m trying to say his original opinion was better).
Best Answer
Regarding the final sentence of the question (as quoted below) related words among others include co-opt, assimilate, hoodwink, cave, and perhaps recant.
However, to fit those words into your sample sentence (“he thought this ... but after being criticized, he __ that the critics were correct”) requires adjustments, perhaps as illustrated in the following samples.