cohesion
noun
The Times Literary Supplement (London) 
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
Ishaan Agarwal, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
The country’s remoteness was a significant advantage in its quest to stamp out the virus, but so was a remarkable social cohesion that eluded most Western nations.
—Rachel Morris, New Yorker, 5 June 2025
Spending time at the fountains could also be a form of social cohesion for the birds.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025
The country’s founding fathers emphasized the importance of short, intense wars that could limit casualties and costs while maintaining foreign legitimacy and internal cohesion.
—Assaf Orion, Foreign Affairs, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cohesion
Cite this Entry
“Cohesion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesion. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
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