Both Uses of
coherent
in
The Lords of Discipline
- "Sir," the boy blubbered, his words barely coherent.†
Chpt 1.11 *coherent = sensible and clear; or describing parts as fitting together in a consistent or pleasing manner
- He came home today muttering and incoherent and doing everything to make himself unpleasant.†
Chpt 4.48incoherent = 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.
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.