adjacent

[ uh-jey-suhnt ]

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?

adjacent

/ 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

noun

1. geometry the side lying between a specified angle and a right angle in a right-angled triangle

Derived Forms

• adˈjacently, adverb
• adˈjacency, noun

Other Words From

• ad·jacent·ly adverb
• nonad·jacent adjective
• nonad·jacent·ly adverb
• subad·jacent adjective
• subad·jacent·ly adverb
• super·ad·jacent adjective
• super·ad·jacent·ly adverb
• unad·jacent adjective
• unad·jacent·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjacent¹

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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjacent¹

C15: from Latin adjacēre to lie next to, from ad- near + jacēre to lie

Synonym Study

See adjoining.

Example Sentences

Soak in a claw-foot tub after a day exploring Rocky Mountain National Park—a 25-minute drive northwest—or the 20-plus miles of trails in adjacent Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests.

From Outside Online

You might be able to hike to the top of the cliff to hang the rope or reach the anchors from an adjacent route.

From Outside Online

The company owns a handful of products that compete comfortably against or adjacent to software giants.

From Fortune

Alexander says that while there has been an uptick in interest in female artists in general, the activity is centered on hip-hop or hip-hop-adjacent artists.

From Ozy

Velocity is by no means the entire story — the difference in runs allowed between adjacent tiers is larger than velocity alone can explain — but it’s clearly a strong signal of differences in talent.

From FiveThirtyEight

Who helps build convention centers and adjacent hotels so cities can attract convention business?

From The Daily Beast

I am sitting on the Turkish-Syrian border, adjacent to the city of Kobani, watching hundreds of children sob.

From The Daily Beast

“Photography turned out to be the secret weapon in his revolutionary landscape paintings,” the adjacent wall text states.

From The Daily Beast

About the only thing nearby that smacks of politics is an adjacent pop-up Halloween costume store.

From The Daily Beast

As I waited to speak to Manning, a cleaning woman poked her head out from one of the adjacent rooms to peer at me.

From The Daily Beast

He commanded a force which at this time was in possession of Norfolk and its adjacent areas.

From Project Gutenberg

One feature of especial interest associated with this cemetery is its connexion with an adjacent arenarium, or sand pit.

From Project Gutenberg

Adjacent to the church is St Peter's hospital, a picturesque gabled building of Jacobean and earlier date, with a fine court room.

From Project Gutenberg

In the mean time, the two men were to enter and make careful examination of the main sewer and its adjacent outlets.

From Project Gutenberg

The three following books are dedicated to the description of Greece, with the adjacent islands.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adjoining
• bordering
• contiguous
• neighboring