proximity
Americannoun
noun
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nearness in space or time
-
nearness or closeness in a series
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of proximity
First recorded in 1475–85; late Middle English; from Middle French proximité, from Latin proximitāt-, stem of proximitās “nearness, adjacent area, vicinity”
Explanation
The word proximity means nearness or closeness. "Because of the proximity of our desks, I couldn't help but notice him cheating on the exam." Your favorite thing about your neighborhood of attached row houses might be the proximity of your neighbors — they're really close to you. Proximity comes from the Latin proximus, "nearest," which also gives us approximate, "close to the actual." You can use this noun to talk about a physical closeness, or something that's near in time, like the proximity of the months April and May.
Vocabulary lists containing proximity
The Great Gatsby
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Hamilton
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1984
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Residents continue to express concerns about their health due to their proximity to the site of the fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
But perhaps the most impressive element of the home is its proximity to the ocean, which ensures jaw-dropping views from every room.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
This summer’s fires stand out for their proximity to populated areas that are typically shielded from fires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
They did so with relatively basic means, such as drones, thanks to the proximity of the shipping lanes to shore.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The Dannenbergs rose to the top of the list by sheer proximity to the Dannemans in the telephone directory.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Dickens’s readers balk at his use of caricature and coincidence, but as Mr. Keefe shows, both are appropriate for a money-mad city full of affluence and anonymity, weird proximities and sudden death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
A mathematical model that could predict the speeds and proximities for electrons jumping into the ion would thus have to keep track of all those interactions simultaneously.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 2, 2021
The close proximities, the swapped sweat, faces inches apart when they’re not pressed together, all of it certainly seems like a risk during a global pandemic with a highly contagious virus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2021
At its best, his novel not only exults in the historical synchronicities and proximities he has discovered but catches the reader up in its rapture.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2019
That the appearances of distances and presences in the spiritual world are according to proximities, relationships, and affinities of love, has been frequently pointed out and confirmed in small treatises respecting that world.
From The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love by Swedenborg, Emanuel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
