cogent
Americanadjective
-
convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation; telling.
-
to the point; relevant; pertinent.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- cogency noun
- cogently adverb
- noncogent adjective
- noncogently adverb
- uncogent adjective
- uncogently adverb
Etymology
Origin of cogent
1650–60; < Latin cōgent- (stem of cōgēns, present participle of cōgere to drive together, collect, compel), equivalent to cōg- ( co- co- + ag-, stem of agere to drive) + -ent- -ent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their playing was electric in its immediacy, cogent in conception and executed with meticulous care—the orchestra sounding lush yet transparent, with enviably subtle dynamic shifts.
“It is plain that nature took but little trouble in fashioning his outer man...As a close observer and cogent reasoner, he has few equals and perhaps no superior in the world,” the reporter wrote.
From Literature
For the reporters covering this president, it has, in a word, been impossible to pull a cogent quote from him.
From Salon
The admonitions in Geismer’s book, published three years ago, cogently apply to the present and future.
From Salon
But if that were the case, a cogent narrative could make that point just as well as the facts about Kerr that appear on screen at the end of the film.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
