cogentadj.
/ˈkəʊdʒənt/ 1.
a. Constraining, impelling; powerful, forcible.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective]
sensiblea1393
eloquent1393
rhetoricc1450
mightya1500
pithy1529
grave1541
pithful1548
weighty1560
sappy1563
emphatical1567
fasta1568
thwacking1567
forceful1571
enforceable1589
energetical1596
eloquious1599
sinewy1600
emphatic1602
sinewed1604
strong1604
tonitruous1606
nervose1645
nervous1663
energetic1674
energic1683
strong1685
cogent1718
lapidary1724
forcible1726
authoritative1749
terse1777
telling1819
vigorous1821
sturdy1822
tonitruant1861
meaty1874
vertebrate1882
energized1887
jawy1898
heavy1970
1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell i. §17. 41 He was wont to do it in such an Obliging (and yet cogent) Way as..to give no Offence.
1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxix. 161 To these views of interest were added the motives, no less cogent, of passion and resentment.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. xviii. 363 The French Emperor..determined to insist in cogent terms.
1866 J. F. Ferrier Lect. Greek Philos. I. ix. 199 Society's commands must be obeyed only in the second instance, because society is less real, less cogent than Nature.
b. esp. Having power to compel assent or belief; argumentatively forcible, convincing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > process of reasoning, ratiocination > argument, source of conviction > [adjective] > strong, valid, convincing
justa1413
pregnanta1425
well-disposedc1449
pregnablea1500
legitime1532
concludent1571
potent1609
solid1615
concluding1620
valida1648
valuable1647
conclusive1649
cogent1659
legitimate1774
well-taken1789
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Creed (1839) 135 Though the witness of John were thus cogent, yet the testimony of miracles was far more irrefragable.
1667 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities (ed. 2) To imploy such Arguments as I thought the clearest, and cogentest.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding i. iv. 36 Undeniable, cogent demonstrations.
1763 S. Johnson in Boswell Life Johnson anno 1781 (1847) 690/1 Sir, I have two very cogent reasons for not printing any list of subscribers.
1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sketches I. iv. ii. 382 The testimony of a number is more cogent than the testimony of two or three.
c. with dependent phr.
ΚΠ
1669 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. I i. ii. 15 Conjectures, such as seem cogent to persuade us.
1836 J. C. Prichard Res. Physical Hist. Mankind (ed. 3) I. 374 Not so cogent of conviction as a positive argument would be.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > [adjective]
strainable1483
compellatory?a1562
coactive1593
inforcive1596
enforcive1598
coercivea1600
constraining1602
constraintive1602
pulsive1602
compulsive1604
compulsatory1610
compellinga1616
compulsativea1616
compulsory1631
coercitive1632
coactinga1641
enforcinga1657
coercent1660
imposing1665
cogent1672
compellent1847
high-pressured1868
coercionary1884
steamroller1896
1672 A. Marvell Rehearsal Transpros'd i. 89 All men are prone to be cogent and supercilious when they are in office.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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adj.1659