coherent

adjective

co·​her·​ent kō-ˈhir-ənt 

-ˈher-

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

coherently adverb

Synonyms

• analytic
• analytical
• consequent
• good
• logical
• rational
• reasonable
• sensible
• sound
• valid
• well-founded
• well-grounded

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 on the Web

Using the quantum wave-particle duality, in which matter behaves both like tiny billiard balls and wave packets, engineers can then use lasers and magnetic fields to split the BEC cloud into two or more coherent matter-wave packets. —IEEE Spectrum, 3 June 2024

The Alliance, which is only united in their opposition to López Obrador, has predictably not been able to produce a coherent platform. —Alex González Ormerod, TIME, 30 May 2024

Unlike in the previous three games, the Timberwolves were actually able to run a coherent offense in the final period with Karl Anthony Towns knocking down a number of clutch 3-pointers to lift Minnesota and avoid a sweep. —Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 May 2024

Anyone unfortunate enough to cross bloody paths with Johnny (Ry Barrett, not uttering one coherent line of dialogue) most likely won’t witness a new dawn. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 29 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 2a