adjacent

[uh-jey-suhnt]

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?

adjacent

/ 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

noun

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjacent¹

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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjacent¹

C15: from Latin adjacēre to lie next to, from ad- near + jacēre to lie

Synonym Study

See adjoining.

Example Sentences

And they could be ‘welcomed’ by thousands of fans in the stand that looms over the first tee and the adjacent 18th green.

From BBC

This leaves the public in the dark — including those who currently work there and in adjacent buildings — as to what the taxpayer-funded report found.

From Los Angeles Times

Disney owns the building, as well as the adjacent 1920s office building that contains the El Capitan Theatre and the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop.

From Los Angeles Times

They said the homeless neighbors there were noisy, aggressive and posed a fire risk when they broke into an adjacent streetlight to steal power from the grid.

From Los Angeles Times

Fire and ambulance services also attended the "significantly damaged" building, as well as the two adjacent properties.

From BBC

Related Words

• adjoining 
• bordering www.thesaurus.com
• contiguous 
• neighboring