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Etymology
Origin of adherence
Explanation
Adherence means "sticking to" or "being faithful to," such as your adherence to your diet even when chocolate cake is around, or students' adherence to school rules — they do not use cell phones or music players in class. The noun adherence is related to the verb adhere, meaning “to stick.” If something adheres, it sticks it to something, like a bumper stick that adheres to a car or a person who adheres to a plan, not changing it along the way. Adherence describes this willingness to stick or be faithful, like adherence to child labor laws that means young workers cannot work past a certain time on school nights.
Vocabulary lists containing adherence
This Week in Words: December 9 - 15, 2017
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Lyddie
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Herbert Hoover on "Rugged Individualism" (1928)
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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.
See Examples For:
Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg, who joined Boeing in August 2024 after the Alaska Airlines incident, has emphasized close adherence to quality control and key performance indicators.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
The study, "Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with mitochondrial microproteins Humanin and SHMOOSE; potential role of the Humanin-Nox2 interaction in cardioprotection," was published March 9, 2026, in Frontiers in Nutrition.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
Success depends on discipline, teamwork, emotional control, respect for others and adherence to the rules of the game.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
As for the bond markets, one supporter has stressed his adherence to the fiscal rules on debt and borrowing, and another put it more colourfully: "He isn't Che Guevara."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
They were rich for all their Quaker adherence to the simple life.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
The object has been to keep the old family, and the old adherences, and the old acres together.
From Cousin Henry by Trollope, Anthony
Whether the Stones and Pebles, that are wash'd by the Brooks, Springs, or other Waters, have any colour'd substance left upon them; and if they have, of what colour, weight, &c. these adherences are?
From Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - Vol 1 - 1666 Giving some Accompt of the present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours of the Ingenious in many considerable parts of the World by Oldenburg, Henry
Some of these adherences resembled pouches with holes, pumping the sea, disgorging vapour, and refilling themselves with water.
From The Man Who Laughs by Hugo, Victor
First, man must independently investigate reality, for the disagreements and dissensions which afflict and affect humanity primarily proceed from imitations of ancestral beliefs and adherences to hereditary forms of worship.
From The Promulgation of Universal Peace by `Abdu'l-Bahá
Like the tree or vine just mention'd, it stands at last in a beauty, power and productiveness of its own, above all others, and of a sort and style uniting all criticisms, proofs and adherences.
From Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Whitman, Walt
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.
