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
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
Retirement accounts have been bounced down and up and down again by an incoherent tariff policy.
—Don Harmon, Chicago Tribune, 8 July 2025
And frankly that bizarre idea makes the PEN Charter incoherent too.
—Kamila Shamsie
june 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025
All of this taken together amounted to an incoherent theory of information.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 28 May 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 18 Jul. 2025.
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incoherent
adjective
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incoherent
adjective
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