as in compelling
having the power to persuade
the results of the DNA fingerprinting were the most cogent evidence for acquittal
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Recent Examples of cogent
After rescuing her daughter, Sid shoots both Marco and Jessica dead (the latter with a Tatum assist) before getting anything resembling a cogent explanation.
—
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
Affleck excels here in a tremendously off-putting role (seemingly the one he was born to play), but the film's most cogent, exciting moments come when Lonergan splits off to show us the town's bizarre side characters.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Jan. 2026
Auction has all the ingredients for a cogent social thriller, but never delivers enough in terms of conflict.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
This is not a story where women battle the men, but struggle within themselves, trying to figure out the most cogent way forward.
—David John Chávez, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cogent
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
Affleck excels here in a tremendously off-putting role (seemingly the one he was born to play), but the film's most cogent, exciting moments come when Lonergan splits off to show us the town's bizarre side characters.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Jan. 2026
Auction has all the ingredients for a cogent social thriller, but never delivers enough in terms of conflict.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
This is not a story where women battle the men, but struggle within themselves, trying to figure out the most cogent way forward.
—David John Chávez, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cogent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cogent
Adjective
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Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.—
Escher Walcott,
PEOPLE,
4 Apr. 2026
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Many of the most compelling growth companies today are directly enabling — or benefiting from — this transition, and several may emerge as category-defining public companies of the next decade.—
Matt Witheiler,
Fortune,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Geoff Elliott, who shares the title of producing artistic director at A Noise Within with wife Rodriguez-Elliott, doesn’t so much play Willy Loman as try on various accents, none of them remotely convincing to this native Brooklynite.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
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In each of these cases, a tech company outsmarted a human—or several—either by producing text convincing enough to pass the smell test, or by creating and marketing a service that convinced a writer to offload part of their labor.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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To be clear, there is little credible scholarly evidence that EdTech, in general, improves learning outcomes, and no conclusive evidence that generative AI improves learning outcomes over traditional human teaching.—
Dr. Timothy Scott,
Hartford Courant,
31 Mar. 2026
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Key Takeaways Taking vitamin C supplements daily may slightly lower blood pressure, but results are not conclusive.—
Vanessa Caceres,
Verywell Health,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The legislation has stalled amid strong pushback from critics.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
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Kodai Senga got the ball for the Mets and turned in a strong performance in his season debut.—
James O'Connell,
New York Daily News,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cogent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cogent. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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