adjunct

[aj-uhngkt]

noun

1. something added to another thing but not essential to it.

   Synonyms: supplement, appendix

2. a person associated with lesser status, rank, authority, etc., in some duty or service; assistant.

   Synonyms: attaché, aide

3. a person working at an institution, as a college or university, without having full or permanent status.

   My lawyer works two nights a week as an adjunct, teaching business law at the college.

4. Grammar.,  a modifying form, word, or phrase depending on some other form, word, or phrase, especially an element of clause structure with adverbial function.

adjective

1. joined or associated, especially in an auxiliary or subordinate relationship.

2. attached or belonging without full or permanent status.

   an adjunct surgeon on the hospital staff.

adjunct

/ ˈædʒʌŋkt, əˈdʒʌŋktɪv /

noun

1. something incidental or not essential that is added to something else

2. a person who is subordinate to another

3. grammar

   1. part of a sentence other than the subject or the predicate

   2. (in systemic grammar) part of a sentence other than the subject, predicator, object, or complement; usually a prepositional or adverbial group

   3. part of a sentence that may be omitted without making the sentence ungrammatical; a modifier

4. logic another name for accident

adjective

1. added or connected in a secondary or subordinate position; auxiliary

Other Word Forms

• adjunctly adverb
• adjunctive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjunct¹

1580–90; < Latin adjunctus joined to (past participle of adjungere ), equivalent to ad- ad- + jung- (nasal variant of jug- yoke ¹ ) + -tus past participle suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjunct¹

C16: from Latin adjunctus, past participle of adjungere to _adjoin

Synonym Study

See addition.

Example Sentences

Administrators rely too heavily on student reviews when deciding whether to retain adjuncts, assistant professors and even associates.

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Other cuts have included adjunct and clinical instructors.

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Pharmaceutical developers may pursue standardized NRK-C extracts as supplements or adjunct therapies, while nutrition experts could explore adding the fruit to functional foods aimed at metabolic health.

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Mr. Tkacik is an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics.

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"The marine environment is the cradle of a lot of vertebrates," said Liu, an assistant adjunct professor of integrative biology and an assistant curator in the UC Museum of Paleontology.

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