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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
Alexander Puutio, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024
There’s no cohesive national framework to govern AI development and deployment.
—Michael Wade, TIME, 13 Oct. 2024
Health and cognitive functioning became a major point of concern when President Joe Biden was still running for reelection, and Democrats’ fears were elevated during the presidential debate in June when the president struggled to string together cohesive sentences and spoke in a whisper.
—Elaine Mallon, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 12 Oct. 2024
The videos often are hypnotic and aesthetically driven with cohesive color schemes and sometimes include a voiceover narrating the onscreen footage.
—Taylor Lorenz, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cohesive 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cohesive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cohesive
Cite this Entry
“Cohesive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesive. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
cohesive
adjective
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