Adhere
verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To stick fast or cleave, as a glutinous substance does; to become joined or united. intransitive
"Wax adhered to his finger."
- 2 follow through or carry out a plan without deviation wordnet
- 3 To be attached or devoted by personal union, in belief, on principle, etc. figuratively, intransitive
"Upon the whole, if, by the British dominions, you mean territories subject to the Parliament, you adhere to your usual fallacy, and suppose what you are bound to prove."
- 4 come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation wordnet
- 5 To be consistent or coherent; to be in accordance; to agree. figuratively, intransitive
"For the most part, Hefner's female companions all adhered to the same mold: twentysomething, bosomy and blonde. "Well, I guess I know what I like," he once said when asked about his preferences."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 stick to firmly wordnet
- 7 To fasten by adhesion. transitive
"A process in producing playing balls which consists molding a pair of hollow hemispheres from suitable air proof mate rial softening their edges by heat and adhering them to form a unitary hollow sphere inclosing said sphere in a stiffened envelop."
- 8 be loyal to wordnet
- 9 To affirm a judgment. intransitive
- 10 be a devoted follower or supporter wordnet
- 11 be compatible or in accordance with wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"There will be chaos unless we all adhere to the rules."
Etymology
From Middle English *adheren (suggested by Middle English adherande (“adhering, adherent”, present participle)), from Latin adhaerēre, adhaesum: ad (“to”) + haerēre (“to stick”). Compare French adhérer.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.