First Known Use: circa 1555
Dictionary
coherent
adjective co·her·ent \kō-ˈhir-ənt, -ˈher-\
: logical and well-organized : easy to understand
: able to talk or express yourself in a clear way that can be easily understood
: working closely and well together
Full Definition of COHERENT
1
a : logically or aesthetically ordered or integrated : consistent <coherent style> <a coherent argument> b : having clarity or intelligibility : understandable <a coherent person> <a coherent passage>
2
: having the quality of holding together or cohering; especially : cohesive, coordinated <a coherent plan for action>
3
a : relating to or composed of waves having a constant difference in phase <coherent light> b : producing coherent light <a coherent source>
— co·her·ent·ly adverb
See coherent defined for English-language learners
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Examples of COHERENT
- … the diaries and the novels demonstrate how a novelist tweaks and grooms reality into something more structured and coherent than life as it is lived. —Penelope Lively, Atlantic, February 2001
- He is without a political agenda as he is without a coherent moral sensibility. —Joyce Carol Oates, Entertainment Weekly, 27 July 1990
- At times, without my insisting on it, my writings become coherent; the successive elements that occur to me are clearly related. —William Stafford, Writing the Australian Crawl, 1978
- This time the song was old, a pattern of rhythmic monosyllables which had lost coherent meaning somewhere in time. —Tony Hillerman, The Blessing Way, 1970
- [+]more
Origin of COHERENT
Middle French or Latin; Middle French cohérent, from Latin cohaerent-, cohaerens, present participle of cohaerēre (see cohere)
Related to COHERENT
- Synonyms
- analytic (or analytical), logical, consequent, good, rational, reasonable, sensible, sound, valid, well-founded, well-grounded
- Antonyms
- illegitimate, illogical, incoherent, inconsequent, inconsequential, invalid, irrational, unreasonable, unsound, weak
Rhymes with COHERENT
COHERENT Defined for Kids
coherent
adjective co·her·ent \kō-ˈhir-ənt, -ˈher-\
Definition of COHERENT for Kids
1
: logical and well-organized <a coherent speech>
2
: to be able to speak well <The accident left her shaken but coherent.>
Learn More About COHERENT
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