adjacent
Americanadjective
-
lying near, close, or contiguous; adjoining; neighboring.
a motel adjacent to the highway.
- Synonyms:
- touching
- Antonyms:
- distant
-
just before, after, or facing.
a map on an adjacent page.
-
(used in combination)
-
related or very close to a specified topic, activity, etc..
While the comment was not outright racist, it was racist-adjacent.
-
supporting or being an ally of a group or subculture without being a part of it.
She describes herself as queer-adjacent.
-
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?
-
adjective
-
being near or close, esp having a common boundary; adjoining; contiguous
-
maths
-
(of a pair of vertices in a graph) joined by a common edge
-
(of a pair of edges in a graph) meeting at a common vertex
-
noun
Synonym Usage
See adjoining.
Other Word Forms
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” ( see ad-) + jac- “lie” + -ent- adjective suffix ( see -ent)
Explanation
Adjacent means close to or near something. You may consider the people up and down your street to be neighbors, but your next-door neighbor is the person who lives in the house or apartment adjacent to yours. Adjacent can refer to two things that touch each other or have the same wall or border. And the adjective is often followed by the preposition to: Her office is adjacent to mine. This word is from Latin adjacere "to lie near," from the prefix ad- "to" plus jacere "to lie, throw."
Vocabulary lists containing adjacent
30 GRE Words Beginning with "A"
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The Westing Game
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"The Hunger Games" Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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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.
The Northern Metropolis and Hengqin Island -- a landmass adjacent to Macau and three times its size -- are both part of China's vision, he said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
It said the overnight operations were of a "preventive nature" and aimed at "securing airspace and its protection, especially in areas adjacent to threatened regions".
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
The sector is filled with fierce competition between other early entrants such as Kalshi, as well as participants from adjacent industries such as Robinhood and DraftKings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
“So I really am a California girl, I grew up just adjacent to the glittering lights of Hollywood, but close enough to know that there was a real business there,” Howe said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
A massive pyramid-shaped structure covering several square kilometers at its base, it towered above most of the structures adjacent to it.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
