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 )

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."

Example Sentences

Operating on a mixture of audacity, talent, and sheer guts, Bertei became part of the No Wave scene that existed immediately adjacent to the Punk Rock Class of 1975.

From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026

She said Malone drove between two vehicles at adjacent fuel pumps, striking a second vehicle to the rear and passenger side.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

Hogan purchased the larger of the two homes that made up his Florida compound for $3.33 million in April 2012, before adding the smaller adjacent property for $1.6 million four years later.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

The well-worn sofa and adjacent armchairs suggest it’s because people sit in it.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

The riders watched as the wind gripped the adjacent captive balloon and tore it from the men holding it down and briefly yanked Manager Morgan into the sky.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• adjoining
• bordering
• contiguous
• neighboring