incoherent
adjective
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Something that is coherent holds or sticks together firmly, with resistance to separation (that is, it coheres). Coherent, ultimately from the Latin co- ("together") and haerēre ("to stick or cling"), entered English in the 16th century and almost from the beginning was used both of physical things ("coherent stone") and of things which hold together in a much less palpable way ("coherent thoughts"). Its antonym, incoherent, entered the language some decades later. Like coherent, incoherent can be applied to both the tangible and the intangible. But, whether we are speaking of sand or logic, all things incoherent have one thing in common: they do not hold together, literally or figuratively, in a unified or intelligible whole.
Examples of incoherent in a Sentence
Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 1 May 2025
In an interview with the Financial Times published Monday, Langone decried Trump’s tariffs as too large, imposed too hastily, and based on an incoherent mathematical formula.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2025
This new version of La Bohème is three times more complicated than the original and sometimes incoherent.
—Jeffrey Seller, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025
But following years of deploying economic weapons in an erratic and incoherent manner, the opportunity went to waste.
—Edward Fishman, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incoherent
Cite this Entry
“Incoherent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incoherent. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
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incoherent
adjective
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incoherent
adjective
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