cogent
Americanadjective
-
convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation; telling.
-
to the point; relevant; pertinent.
adjective
Other Word Forms
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
Explanation
When you make a cogent argument, it means your argument is clear and persuasive. In these days of 24-hour entertainment news and sound-bite sized explanations of complex government policy, it’s hard to find a cogent argument amidst all the emotional outbursts. Cogent comes from a Latin word meaning "to drive together," so cogent thinking is well-organized: it hangs together. If you try to convince your mayor to build a new park by saying that playgrounds are good, seeing the sky is nice, and raccoons are cool…well that’s not a cogent argument; it’s just random. But you could cogently argue that parks contribute to civic happiness by providing space for exercise, community, and encounters with nature.
Vocabulary lists containing cogent
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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.
He didn’t really make a clear, cogent argument about why we were going in.
From Slate • May 7, 2026
Yet cogent objections to post-’60s permissiveness crop up with some regularity, if you’re looking for them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
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 • Oct. 4, 2025
He never responded to the multiple critiques of his false claims about the program with cogent counterarguments.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2025
At some point early in the summer, he pumped out a thirty-page memo about corporate governance that was evidently so thorough and cogent it became instantly legendary.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
