cohesion

noun

co·​he·​sion kō-ˈhē-zhən 

1

: the act or state of sticking together tightly

especially : unity

the lack of cohesion in the Party

—The Times Literary Supplement (London)

cohesion among soldiers in a unit

2

: union between similar plant parts or organs

3

: molecular attraction by which the particles of a body are united throughout the mass

cohesionless

kō-ˈhē-zhən-ləs 

adjective

Did you know?

Cohesion is one of the noun forms of cohere; the others are cohesiveness and coherence, each of which has a slightly different meaning. Coherence is often used to describe a person's speech or writing. An incoherent talk or blog post is one that doesn't "hang together;" and if the police pick up someone who they describe as incoherent, it means he or she isn't making sense. But to describe a group or team that always sticks together, you would use cohesive, not coherent. And the words you'd use in Chemistry class to describe the way molecules hang together—for example, the way water forms into beads and drops—are cohesion, cohesive, and cohesiveness.

Examples of cohesion in a Sentence

There was a lack of cohesion in the rebel army.

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s an intentional lack of cohesion in her performance as to what she is supposed to mean to him — or to the film, for that matter. —Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 10 July 2025

But the presence of journalists disrupted our cohesion. —David W. Brown, New Yorker, 5 July 2025

Dance duets may amount to a singular force with their concentrated cohesion or a seeming multiplicity spread out through all the changes paired movement can bring. —Guillermo Perez, Miami Herald, 3 July 2025

That commitment to Marxist-Leninist ideological purity damaged the KGB’s analytical performance: the agency routinely underestimated the resilience of Western cohesion and overestimated the strength of Soviet client states and revolutionary movements. —David V. Gioe, Foreign Affairs, 2 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin cohaesiōn-, cohaesiō (Medieval Latin, "proximity contact"), from Latin cohaes-, variant stem of cohaerēre "to stick together, cohere" + -iōn-, -iō -ion

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cohesion

• adhesion
• artesian
• cartesian
• elysian
• magnesian
• austronesian
• indonesian
• melanesian
• micronesian
• polynesian
• ferromagnesian
• friesian

Kids Definition

cohesion

noun

co·​he·​sion kō-ˈhē-zhən 

1

: the action or state of sticking together

2

: molecular attraction by which the particles of a body are united throughout the mass

cohesive

kō-ˈhē-siv

-ziv

adjective

cohesiveness noun

Medical Definition

cohesion

noun

co·​he·​sion kō-ˈhē-zhən 

1

: the act or process of sticking together tightly

2

: the molecular attraction by which the particles of a body are united throughout the mass compare adhesion sense 3