MEANING
1. To stick firmly to a surface or remain in close contact with something.
2. To follow a rule, plan, or standard without departing from it.
3. To remain loyal to a person, belief, principle, or cause.
Use it for
describing material sticking to a surface; distinguishing attachment from loose contact; showing a substance remaining on an object after movementSeparates physical attachment, procedural compliance, and loyalty, preventing a vague claim of adherence from doing three different jobs. Writing functions: Research / Methodology, Argumentation.
Words that belong together
- adhere to a surface
- adhere firmly
- particles adhere to
On the page
Fine dust adhered to the damp paper despite her attempts to brush it away.
The label would not adhere to the rough wooden case.
The investigators adhered to the recruitment criteria after the first interview round.
An interpretation can be inventive while still adhering to the available evidence.
She adhered to the principle of open access even when the funding arrangement changed.
Word forms
- Base
- adhere
- Past tense
- adhered
- Past participle
- adhered
- Present participle
- adhering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- adhere
- Present continuous
- am/is/are adhering
- Present perfect
- have/has adhered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been adhering
- Past
- adhered
- Past continuous
- was/were adhering
- Past perfect
- had adhered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been adhering
- Future
- will adhere
- Future continuous
- will be adhering
- Future perfect
- will have adhered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been adhering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Intransitive verb: adhere; adheres; adhered; adhered; adhering. Future: will adhere. Normally adhere to a surface, standard, plan, principle, or cause; no direct object. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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