cogent
adjUK /ˈkəʊd͡ʒn̩t/ · US /ˈkoʊd͡ʒn̩t/
Etymology From French cogent, from Latin cōgēns, present active participle of cōgō (“drive together, compel”), from cō + agō (“drive”).
1
Reasonable and convincing; based on evidence.
- We congratulate our correspondents on some very cogent reasoning, and shall have to watch our step even more carefully in future!1944 May and June, “In the Critics' Den”, in Railway Magazine, page 132:
- Clearly, the mere fact that some Emergentists may in practice have made use of invented examples in testing their theories does not tell against any cogent general objections they may have offered to such practice. What is needed is a decision on the methodological point, not just a cry of “You did it too!”.2011 September 21, Barbara C. Scholz, Francis Jeffry Pelletier, Geoffrey K. Pullum, Ryan Nefdt, “Philosophy of Linguistics”, in Edward N. Zalta, Uri Nodelman, editors, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, →ISSN, retrieved 18 Jun 2025:
2
Appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning.
3
Forcefully persuasive; relevant, pertinent.
- The prosecution presented a cogent argument, convincing the jury of the defendant's guilt.
- Synonyms
- compelling, conclusive, convincing, indisputable
- Antonyms
- debatable, irrelevant, uncogent