i Register
In some senses, incoherence is marked as obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.
incoherence
/ˌɪnkəʊˈhɪəɹəns/
noun 4
Collocations
3ADJ.
likely
VERB + INCOHERENCE
muttering
PREP.
on
Definitions
noun
1
The quality of being incoherent.
HE DESCENDED, signifieth a voluntarie motion, where as the bodie dead hath neither WILL nor MOTION. […] Though therefore this exposition cannot be charged with falsitie, for Christ was trulie buried; yet may it not bee endured by reason of […] the improprietie and incoherence of the worde, that a deade corps should descend […]
1680, Henry Care, The History of the Damnable Popish Plot, London: B.R. et al., Chapter 23, Section 2, p. 327, […] the said Lane is prevailed with […] to prefer an Indictment against Dr. Oates, for attempting to commit upon him the horrid and detestable sin of Sodomy; but the Grand Jury, by reason of the incoherence and slightness of his Evidence, did not think fit to finde it, but returned an Ignoramus.
2
The quality of being incoherent.
1669, Robert Boyle, “The History of Fluidity and Firmness,” Section 16, in Certain Physiological Essays and Other Tracts, London: Henry Herringman, p. 182, […] if it [Salt-Petre] be beaten into an impalpable powder, this powder, when it is pour’d out, will emulate a Liquor, by reason that the smallness and incoherence of the parts do both make them easie to be put into motion […]
3
Something incoherent; something that does not make logical sense or is not logically connected.
[…] Incoherences in Matter and Suppositions, without Proofs put handsomly together in good Words and a plausible Stile, are apt to pass for strong Reason and good Sense, till they come to be look’d into with Attention.
This was strangely heightened at times by the ragged Elijah’s diabolical incoherences uninvitedly recurring to me, with a subtle energy I could not have before conceived of.
4
Thinking or speech that is so disorganized that it is essentially inapprehensible to others.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — nonsense that is simply incoherent and unintelligible
- incoherency
- unintelligibility
noun — lack of cohesion or clarity or organization
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
401
HE DESCENDED, signifieth a voluntarie motion, where as the bodie dead hath neither WILL nor MOTION. […] Though therefore this exposition cannot be charged with falsitie, for Christ was trulie buried;
Wiktionary02
1680, Henry Care, The History of the Damnable Popish Plot, London: B.R. et al., Chapter 23, Section 2, p. 327, […] the said Lane is prevailed with […] to prefer an Indictment against Dr. Oates, for at
Wiktionary03
Bulstrode went away now without anxiety as to what Raffles might say in his raving, which had taken on a muttering incoherence not likely to create any dangerous belief.
Wiktionary04
It was she who revealed the secret meaning; her skill and ingenuity had given light to the dark mystery, and consistency to its incoherence.
Tatoeba · #11917520Usage Notes
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