All 3 Uses of
coherent
in
Atlas Shrugged
- He did not speak, because his consciousness was held, not by coherent statements, but by two pictures that seemed to glare at him insistently.†
Chpt 1.6 *coherent = sensible and clear; or describing parts as fitting together in a consistent or pleasing manner
- Those irrational wishes that draw you to their creed, those emotions you worship as an idol, on whose altar you sacrifice the earth, that dark, incoherent passion within you, which you take as the voice of God or of your glands, is nothing more than the corpse of your mind.†
Chpt 3.7incoherent = not sensible or clear; or describing parts as not fitting together in a consistent or pleasing mannerstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in incoherent means not and reverses the meaning of coherent. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- In the incoherent dimness of his consciousness, in some wordless, shapeless, unintelligible manner, even he suddenly grasped the meaning of what was occurring in that cellar.†
Chpt 3.9
Definitions:
-
(1)
(coherent) sensible and clear; or describing parts as fitting together in a consistent or pleasing manner
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
A comprehensive dictionary will have more specialized definitions of coherent such as one used in physics.