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Nouns
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:
“Fiscal credibility, built through adherence to agreed expenditure paths, is our best protection against rising borrowing costs,” said Pieter Hasekamp, chair of the EFB.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
“Although there may be trade-offs between strict adherence to these eligibility requirements and broad representativeness, the current methodology provides substantial market coverage and sector balance,” S&P Dow Jones Indices added in its latest release.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
That long term adherence could be one of the intervention's biggest strengths.
From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026
The measures aimed at trying to curb its spread rely essentially on adherence to preventive steps and the rapid detection of cases.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
But it must be noted that Dobie’s adherence to the rules may have been a wee bit lax.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
The object has been to keep the old family, and the old adherences, and the old acres together.
From Cousin Henry by Trollope, Anthony
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
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
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.
