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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.
“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
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
The family say they want "all paid care for babies and infants" to be "properly regulated with mandatory training and strict adherence to national safer-sleep guidelines".
From BBC • May 12, 2026
For the first experiment, the authors combined their restaurant data set with another set that measured religious adherence in different counties across the country.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
Diplomacy is a large part of being a trouper, and a large portion of diplomacy is adherence to title and rank.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
