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definitions

adjacent

[uh-jey-suhnt]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR adjacent ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

lying near, close, or contiguous; adjoining; neighboring: a motel adjacent to the highway.
just before, after, or facing: a map on an adjacent page.
(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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RELATED WORDS

neighboring, contiguous, adjoining, bordering, alongside, beside, close, near, touching

Origin of adjacent

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin adjacent- (stem of adjacēns, present participle of adjacēre to adjoin), equivalent to ad- ad- + jac- lie + -ent- -ent
Related formsad·ja·cent·ly, adverbnon·ad·ja·cent, adjectivenon·ad·ja·cent·ly, adverbsub·ad·ja·cent, adjectivesub·ad·ja·cent·ly, adverbsu·per·ad·ja·cent, adjectivesu·per·ad·ja·cent·ly, adverbun·ad·ja·cent, adjectiveun·ad·ja·cent·ly, adverb
Can be confusedadjacent adjoining (see synonym study at adjoining)

Synonyms for adjacent

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR adjacent ON THESAURUS.COM
1. abutting, juxtaposed, touching.

Synonym study

1. See adjoining.

Antonyms for adjacent

distant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for adjacent

Contemporary Examples of adjacent

Historical Examples of adjacent

  • From the hill, we could overlook the river, and the adjacent country.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • Nothing happened, though the adjacent portions of the tepee moved.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • He loitered about in adjacent doorways, quite like a hired fellow.

    Ruggles of Red Gap

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • He saw him vault into the saddle, and he saw him vanish into the adjacent woods.

    The Night Riders

    Ridgwell Cullum

  • In a moment they were heard moving noisily in the adjacent room.

    Captain Blood

    Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for adjacent

adjacent

adjective

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

geometry the side lying between a specified angle and a right angle in a right-angled triangle
Derived Formsadjacency, nounadjacently, adverb

Word Origin for adjacent

C15: from Latin adjacēre to lie next to, from ad- near + jacēre to lie
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for adjacent
adj.

early 15c., from Latin adiacentem (nominative adiacens) "lying at," present participle of adiacere "lie at, border upon, lie near," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + iacere "to lie, rest," literally "to throw" (see jet (v.)), with notion of "to cast (oneself) down."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper