adjacent

American  

[uh-jey-suhnt] / əˈdʒeɪ sənt /

adjective

1. lying near, close, or contiguous; adjoining; neighboring.

   a motel adjacent to the highway.

   Synonyms:

   touching

   Antonyms:

   distant

2. just before, after, or facing.

   a map on an adjacent page.

3. (used in combination)

   1. related or very close to a specified topic, activity, etc..

      While the comment was not outright racist, it was racist-adjacent.

   2. supporting or being an ally of a group or subculture without being a part of it.

      She describes herself as queer-adjacent.

   3. having the traits or interests of a group or subculture without being a part of it.

      Are they full-on geeks or just nerd-adjacent?

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adjacent British  

/ əˈdʒeɪsənt /

adjective

1. being near or close, esp having a common boundary; adjoining; contiguous

2. maths

   1. (of a pair of vertices in a graph) joined by a common edge

   2. (of a pair of edges in a graph) meeting at a common vertex

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noun

1. geometry the side lying between a specified angle and a right angle in a right-angled triangle

Related Words

See adjoining.

Other Word Forms

• adjacency noun
• adjacently adverb
• nonadjacent adjective
• nonadjacently adverb
• subadjacent adjective
• subadjacently adverb
• superadjacent adjective
• superadjacently adverb
• unadjacent adjective
• unadjacently adverb

Etymology

Origin of adjacent

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin adjacent- (stem of adjacēns, present participle of adjacēre “to adjoin”), equivalent to ad- “toward” ( ad- ) + jac- “lie” + -ent- adjective suffix ( -ent )

Example Sentences

But metals businesses like it, along with fertilizer and chemical enterprises, are now competitive global players because Gulf governments invested in hard and soft infrastructure adjacent to the oil business.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Just adjacent to the facility, still in operation today, is a haunting reminder of the past: the graves of more than 200 children who died in state custody.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

Samples with adjacent -NH2 groups and pyrrolic nitrogen captured more CO2 than untreated carbon fibers.

From Science Daily • Mar. 28, 2026

In recent years, several demonstrations have expanded onto adjacent freeways, grinding traffic to a halt.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

She was sent with forceps and a kidney bowl to an adjacent ward, to the bedside of an airman with shrapnel in his leg.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Related Words

• adjoining
• bordering
• contiguous
• neighboring