cohesion

noun

co·​he·​sion kō-ˈhē-zhən How to pronounce cohesion (audio)
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 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
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.
In his opinion granting a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said the Trump administration did not put forth any evidence that allowing transgender people to serve openly harmed military readiness, unit cohesion or lethality. Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 24 Apr. 2025 Armenians, a people with a much stronger sense of ethnic identity and cohesion, seized the opportunity of crippled Soviet authority to attack Azerbaijan. Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025 According to Charania, sources indicated that Budenholzer's difficulty in building cohesion with the roster stemmed largely from his relationship with franchise star Devin Booker and extended to other players as well. Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025 Still, out of that dissonance came an aesthetic cohesion for one of the most consummate rap songs of 1997, and of her career. Steven J. Horowitz, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cohesion

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of cohesion was in 1660

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cohesion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesion. Accessed 7 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

cohesion

noun
co·​he·​sion kō-ˈhē-zhən How to pronounce cohesion (audio)
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 How to pronounce cohesion (audio)
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
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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