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Synonyms

cohesive

American  
[koh-hee-siv] / koʊˈhi sɪv /

adjective

  1. characterized by or causing cohesion.

    a cohesive agent.

  2. cohering or tending to cohere; well-integrated; unified.

    a cohesive organization.

  3. Physics. of or relating to the molecular force within a body or substance acting to unite its parts.

cohesive British  
/ kəʊˈhiːsɪv /

adjective

  1. characterized by or causing cohesion

  2. tending to cohere or stick together

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • cohesively adverb
  • cohesiveness noun
  • noncohesive adjective
  • uncohesive adjective

Etymology

Origin of cohesive

First recorded in 1720–30; cohes(ion) + -ive

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.

When stirred through at the end, it thickens the tomato juices into something cohesive — salty, tangy, faintly luxurious.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

Smoother on the ball and more cohesive than an Arsenal side based on organisation, the traffic only flowed one way.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

But every gallery contains surprises, and for a show with such an expansive purview and so many artworks, the result is surprisingly cohesive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

Now Fiddelke must bring it home by tying all those initiatives together into a cohesive playbook.

From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026

More than that, he was one of those responsible for the organization of the G.A.R. as a cohesive and potent force in the national life.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

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.