adherence

adherence — noun

1. the careful and continued practice of obeying a rule, sticking to a plan, or sta

1.nounC1
Definition

the careful and continued practice of obeying a rule, sticking to a plan, or staying loyal to a belief — for example, taking medicine exactly as the doctor said, or refusing to break a religious principle.

Example

Strict adherence to the safety rules saved the workers during the factory fire.

strict adherence to + noun (rules)

Dr. Patel praised Rashida for her adherence to the diet plan after her surgery.

adherence to + plan (medical context)

Common collocations
  • strict adherence
  • rigid adherence
  • close adherence
  • poor adherence
  • adherence to the rules
  • adherence to the plan
  • adherence to the principles
Synonyms
  • compliance

    stresses obeying an external rule or order; common in legal and corporate writing

  • observance

    often used for following religious or formal customs, not just rules

  • loyalty

    more about emotional attachment to a person, group, or cause than to rules

  • fidelity

    literary or formal; suggests faithfulness to a person, cause, or original version

Antonyms
  • violation

    the act of breaking a rule rather than following it

  • disregard

    ignoring a rule or belief instead of practising it carefully

Grammar Patterns

adherence to + noun

Usage Note

Almost always followed by 'to' plus the rule, plan, or belief being followed. Common in medical, legal, and academic writing; in casual speech, native speakers prefer 'sticking to' or 'following'.

Common Mistakes

Her adherence of the rules was strict.
Her adherence to the rules was strict.
use 'to', not 'of', after 'adherence'.
He showed an adherence in the team's plan.
He showed adherence to the team's plan.
'adherence' is uncountable here and takes 'to'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe following a rule, custom, or principle, but they highlight different things. 'Adherence' is the most general and is common in formal writing about rules, plans, or beliefs (adherence to the safety code). 'Compliance' is narrower: it focuses on doing what an external authority — a law, a regulator, a contract — demands, often grudgingly (compliance with tax law). 'Observance' usually points to keeping a custom or religious practice alive (observance of Ramadan; observance of the holiday). 'Loyalty' shifts the focus from rules to feelings: it is about staying faithful to a person, team, or cause (loyalty to her family). So a doctor might praise a patient's adherence to treatment, a regulator measures compliance with the law, a community celebrates the observance of an old festival, and a friend shows loyalty during hard times.

adherence ↗compliance ↗observance ↗loyalty ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • strict adherence to
  • close adherence to
  • lack of adherence to

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From the Latin verb 'adhaerere', meaning 'to stick to', formed from 'ad-' ('to') and 'haerere' ('to stick'). The word travelled through French ('adhérence') into English in the late 1500s, first describing physical sticking and soon also the figurative idea of sticking to a rule, leader, or belief.