Meanings
plural cogencies
- countableuncountableThe state of being cogent; the characteristic or quality of being reasonable and persuasive.
All the enchantment of fancy, and all the cogency of argument, are employed to recommend to the reader his real interest.
1781, Samuel Johnson, “Addison”, in Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets, volume 5, London: J. Nichols, page 1561 more example
A philosophic study of the development of philosophies should be content to seek out the bases and cogencies of philosophies rather than engage upon a nostalgic search for sympathetic doctrines.
1928 Oct, Richard McKeon, “Thomas Aquinas' Doctrine of Knowledge and Its Historical Setting”, in Speculum, volume 3, number 4, page 444
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe quality of being valid and rigorous
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
cogency. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cogency
“cogency.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cogency. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cogency,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cogency.
Source: cogency on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.