Basic principles of capillary-induced adhesion and roughness-enhanced hydrophobicity are utilized to design three superhydrophobic porous-nanostructure models whose adhesion forces ranged from strong to weak. The design idea is well supported by experimental results, which indicated that adhesive forces may be tailored by modifying structural morphologies to manipulate solid-liquid contact behavior and air-pocket composition in open or sealed systems. ; National Nature Science Foundation of China [50571085, 20773100, 20620130427, 20773135]; National Basic Research Program of China 973 Program [2007CB935603]; Technology Program of Fujian and Xiamen, China [2007H0031, 3502Z20073004]; Chinese Academy of Sciences