coherent

adjective co·her·ent \ kō-ˈhir-ənt , -ˈher- \

|Updated on: 5 Jul 2018

Examples: coherent in a Sentence

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

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coherently

adverb

See coherent defined for English-language learners

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 of coherent from the Web

Thankfully, higher brain areas assemble these fragments into a coherent whole-otherwise all our friends might look like Picasso's disorientating paintings of his muse Dora Maar.

— daniel glaser, A-LIST, "Out of Your Mind," 1 July 2018
Throughout his more than three decades on the Court, Justice Kennedy has been criticized — sometimes virulently — for alleged inconsistencies in his opinions and for lacking a clear vision of the Constitution and a coherent interpretative method.

— nancy l. combs, Vox, "An optimist and yet a realist: a former clerk to Justice Kennedy considers his legacy," 30 June 2018
Efforts to fit Kennedy’s major opinions into a clear, coherent philosophy have met with little success.

— katie reilly, Time, "How Anthony Kennedy's Swing Vote Made Him 'the Decider'," 27 June 2018
But these conservatives are right about one thing: Republicans don’t have a coherent health-care message this election cycle.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Why Virginia’s Medicaid expansion is a big deal," 31 May 2018
Creating a coherent branching narrative of this scope would be exceedingly difficult for even the most experienced and accomplished Hollywood scriptwriter.

— kyle orland, Ars Technica, "Detroit: Become Human review: Robotic in all of the wrong ways," 24 May 2018
Even more surprising: that score has turned out not only coherent, but one of the most zanily enjoyable on Broadway right now, and SpongeBob is heading into June 10's Tony Awards tied with Mean Girls for the most nominations, with 12.

— rebecca milzoff, Billboard, "Billboard on Broadway Podcast: The Pop Phenomenon 'SpongeBob SquarePants'," 24 May 2018
The straight documentary sections are less sure-footed, as Kofmel struggles to corral the fuzzy facts into a coherent narrative.

— stephen dalton, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Chris the Swiss': Film Review | Cannes 2018," 22 May 2018
The purpose of the disinformation campaign is to drown Western intelligence in a cacophony of wild claims, rather than offer a coherent counter-narrative.

— The Economist, "Kremlin-backed fake news targets Britain," 19 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coherent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of coherent

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1557

in the meaning defined at sense 2a

See Words from the same year