coherent

adjective

co·​her·​ent kō-ˈhir-ənt How to pronounce coherent (audio)
-ˈher-
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
coherently adverb

Examples of coherent in a Sentence

… 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
He proposed the most coherent plan to improve the schools. They are able to function as a coherent group.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Wave functions remain coherent, transitions between states are smooth and computational systems operate at peak efficiency. Eric Solis, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025 And unlike the Metrorail projects, where the station, apartments, shops and other amenities are clustered closely together on compact former parking lots to form tightly coherent urban districts, Upland Park would be spread out over two far larger, separate and disconnected properties. Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 22 Jan. 2025 More support for Calvert-Lewin — and empowering attacking players One of the main criticisms of the football Dyche’s sides played was that there was little guidance or semblance of a coherent blueprint in the attacking third. Patrick Boyland, The Athletic, 22 Jan. 2025 Even more than narrative films or traditional documentaries, vérité is created in the editing room, where hours and hours of film are crafted into a coherent story. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for coherent 

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French coherent, borrowed from Latin cohaerent-, cohaerens "touching, adjacent, cohering," from present participle of cohaerēre "to cohere"

First Known Use

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Time Traveler
The first known use of coherent was in 1557

Dictionary Entries Near coherent

Cite this Entry

“Coherent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherent. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

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