Did you know?
The Latin verb haerēre has shown remarkable stick-to-itiveness in influencing the English lexicon, which is fitting for a word that means "to be closely attached; to stick." Among its descendants are adhere (literally meaning "to stick"), adhere’s relative adhesive (a word for sticky substances), inhere (meaning "to belong by nature or habit"), and even hesitate (which implies remaining stuck in place before taking action). In Latin, haerēre teamed up with the prefix co- to form cohaerēre, which means "to stick together." Cohaerēre is the ancestor of cohesive, a word borrowed into English in the early 18th century to describe something that sticks together literally (such as dough or mud) or figuratively (such as a society or sports team).
Examples of cohesive in a Sentence
Sean Sennett, HollywoodReporter, 13 Apr. 2026
Using market-leading, interoperable identifiers to enable a unified view of the customer empowers AI to understand individual customer journeys and influence them through cohesive, personalized experiences.
—Jarrod Martin, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2026
Stick to white or neutral tones for a clean, cohesive look.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 13 Apr. 2026
Districts have not taken a cohesive approach to AI.
—Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cohesive
Cite this Entry
“Cohesive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesive. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
cohesive
adjective
