adhesive

C2+ Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ədˈhiːsɪv/ UK /ədˈhiːsɪv/ See IPA manual

noun adj

Meanings

1

noun
a substance used to stick objects together; sticky

A strong adhesive held the broken vase together.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a substance used to stick... glue cement paste sticky gummed tacky

Opposites

nonadhesiveslippery

Word family

Derived forms adhesivelyadhesiveness

Related forms adhere adhesion adherent

Etymology

From French adhésif, from Latin adhaesum, supine of adhaerere ('to stick to'), from ad- ('to') + haerere ('to stick').

adhaerere Latin haerere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances Word Formation & Derivatives

# adhesive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** ədˈhiːsɪv
**IPA (UK):** ədˈhiːsɪv

## Meanings
1. a substance used to stick objects together; sticky

## Examples
- A strong adhesive held the broken vase together.

## Synonyms
- glue
- cement
- paste
- sticky
- gummed
- tacky

## Antonyms
- nonadhesive
- slippery

## Derived Forms
- adhesively
- adhesiveness

## Related Forms
- adhere
- adhesion
- adherent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: adhaerere
- Root: haerere

## Etymology
From French adhésif, from Latin adhaesum, supine of adhaerere ('to stick to'), from ad- ('to') + haerere ('to stick').

## AI Etymology
Adhesive is from French adhésif, from Latin adhaesum, supine of adhaerere ('to stick to'), from ad- ('to') + haerere ('to stick'). Important recorded forms include adhaerere (Latin) and haerere (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers a substance used to stick objects together; sticky. The wider family includes derived forms such as adhesively and adhesiveness and related words such as adhere, adhesion, and adherent.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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