adjacent

adjective

ad·​ja·​cent ə-ˈjā-sᵊnt 

1

a

: having a common endpoint or border

adjacent lots

adjacent walls

the property adjacent to ours

adjacent sides of a triangle

b

: not distant : nearby

the city and adjacent suburbs

The arid conditions in California's Death Valley can be partially attributed to the adjacent mountains …

—Frederick K. Lutgens et al.

c

: immediately preceding or following with nothing similar intervening

an adjacent paragraph

… a would-be bank robber who mistook the entrance to an adjacent store for his objective.

—William Murray

2

: closely connected or related to something else

It also offers office supply and adjacent products and services …

—David Elman

Many of the people who've jumped on the restaurant bandwagon have come from other industries. … Some are hobbyists or folks adjacent to the industry who think they can make their great concept work.

—Mark Kurlyandchik

—often used in combination

He has served in various politics-adjacent roles, but has held no elected political office.

—Rochester (New York) Democrat and Chronicle

As she continues to perfect her place within that royal-adjacent realm, one can't help but imagine how seamlessly her designs might integrate into the wardrobes of the royals themselves.

—Eliza Scarborough

3

of two angles : having the vertex and one side in common see also adjacent angle

adjacently adverb

Synonyms of adjacent

• adjoining
• neighboring
• closest
• bordering

Choose the Right Synonym for adjacent

adjacent, adjoining, contiguous, juxtaposed mean being in close proximity.

adjacent may or may not imply contact but always implies absence of anything of the same kind in between.

a house with an adjacent garage

adjoining definitely implies meeting and touching at some point or line.

had adjoining rooms at the hotel

contiguous implies having contact on all or most of one side.

offices in all 48 contiguous states

juxtaposed means placed side by side especially so as to permit comparison and contrast.

a skyscraper juxtaposed to a church

Examples of adjacent in a Sentence

The Harrimans owned two large adjacent houses on N Street, one for themselves and one for Averell Harriman's pictures. —Larry McMurtry, New York Times Review of Books, 23 Oct. 2003

Hearing unexpected chords was linked to magnetic activity in a left-brain region known as Broca's area and in adjacent right-brain tissue. —Bruce Bower, Science News, 5 May 2001

The hallways, especially those adjacent to the satellite phone, were crowded with journalists, avid to cover the Taliban takeover … —Michael Ignatieff, New Yorker, 24 Mar. 1997

Digging further in that spot and five adjacent areas, they retrieved 19 skulls, five eggs, over 150 jaws and hundreds of teeth, limbs and bone bits. —Natalie Angier, Time, 8 Oct. 1984

their house is adjacent to a wooded park

Recent Examples on the Web

Residents have been bracing to see what El Niño has in store this winter after an active hurricane season that has dramatically reshaped many of Southern California’s most famous beaches, including in San Clemente and adjacent Capistrano Beach. — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026

Expect more Goop-adjacent product drops framed around daily recovery rather than extreme performance. — Samantha Agate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Oct. 2026

Lips and eyes were also adorned at the L’Oreal Paris booth, where guests received touch-ups before hitting the adjacent Allure Red Carpet. — Eden Stuart, Allure, 19 Oct. 2026

Sanders asked during an impromptu speech outside, where hundreds of people gathered on a lawn adjacent to the University of Florida’s 800-person auditorium, after their main event had already reached capacity. — Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French agisaunt, adjesant, borrowed from Latin adjacent-, adjacens, present participle of adjacēre "to lie near, border on," from ad- ad- + jacēre "to lie," stative derivative from the base of jacere "to throw" — more at jet entry 3

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing adjacent

• adjacent angle

Rhymes for adjacent

• complacent
• complaisant
• subjacent
• nascent

Kids Definition

adjacent

adjective

ad·​ja·​cent ə-ˈjās-ᵊnt 

1

: lying next or near : having a border or point in common

a field adjacent to the road

2

: having a vertex or a vertex and side in common

adjacent angles

adjacent sides of a rectangle

adjacently adverb