Adjective to describe an argument that changed my mind or makes good sense?

I recently read an opinion piece that I found to be totally convincing - it expressed things that I'd felt myself but had never previously been able to put into words - it hit the nail on the head.

When I was sending someone else a link to the article, I realised I couldn't think of a single adjective that expressed how I wanted to describe it. "You should read this _ article from (author)".

Does anyone have any ideas? I've come up with "convincing" and "incisive" but I don't think they quite express what I'm looking for. A thesaurus gave me "trenchant" which I think is a bit too obscure.

Solution 1:

Compelling comes to mind.

merriam-webster tells us:

very interesting : able to capture and hold your attention
capable of causing someone to believe or agree
strong and forceful : causing you to feel that you must do something
[...]
He made a compelling argument.

Another option might be persuasive, as Gary's Student mentions in his comment. As merriam-webster defines it:

able to cause people to do or believe something
able to persuade people

Solution 2:

I'm not normally keen on "grading" alternative ways of expressing something, because people don't always agree over which words are "stronger" or "weaker". But in this particular case I think almost everyone would agree that given...

Tom presented a convincing argument
Dick presented a compelling argument
Harry presented a killer argument

...we take it for granted that Harry would win hands if it came to a vote. In which context it's worth noting that we can quite naturally replace a with the killer argument (there's usually only one killer argument trumping all others), but it would be a bit odd to do that with the alternatives.

Solution 3:

Try the adjective cogent if you want to say the argument is logical, well-organized, and persuasive. Wiktionary shows the following senses:

1. Reasonable and convincing; based on evidence.
2. Appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning.
3. Forcefully persuasive.

If the article helps in choosing one point of view from among several, or if it expresses an argument nearly irrefutably, consider decisive, with its sense “Having the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy; putting an end to contest or controversy; final; conclusive”.

An article that presents its argument neatly and compactly may be called pithy. From en.wiktionary, it means “Concise and meaningful”.

Also consider enlightening, present participle of verb enlighten, which is “To make clear to the intellect or conscience; to shed the light of truth and knowledge upon; to furnish with increase of knowledge; to instruct; as, to enlighten the mind or understanding”.

Solution 4:

Influential may also convey the idea:

• having the power to cause changes : having influence

• having or exercising influence or power; "an influential newspaper"; "an influential speech"

  • His theories have become more influential in recent years.
  • My parents have been the most influential people in my life.

Source: www.thefreedictionary.com