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

Other Word Forms

• adjacently adverb
• adjacency noun
• nonadjacent adjective
• nonadjacently adverb
• subadjacent adjective
• subadjacently adverb
• superadjacent adjective
• superadjacently adverb
• unadjacent adjective
• unadjacently 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

The search by federal agencies had also shut down construction on an adjacent battery plant, CBS News reports.

From BBC

Therrien never opened the gallery to the public but often hosted museum groups and curators, taking them to his adjacent apartment afterward and lingering over a long lunch of salad served from a giant bowl.

From Los Angeles Times

But no such luck — the adjacent grassy areas managed by the National Park Service obviously hadn’t been mowed in months, yet another reminder of what the regime’s priorities are.

From Salon

Gray’s photo sculpture, for example, will be adjacent to a gallery featuring African art and near another with Latin American art.

From Los Angeles Times

When it looked like he’d get one last at-bat in the eighth, Schwarber yelled out a question while hitting in the underground batting cage adjacent to the dugout.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• adjoining 
• bordering www.thesaurus.com
• contiguous 
• neighboring