adjacent

adjective

ad·​ja·​cent ə-ˈjā-sᵊnt How to pronounce adjacent (audio)
1
a
: not distant : nearby
the city and adjacent suburbs
b
: having a common endpoint or border
adjacent lots
adjacent sides of a triangle
c
: immediately preceding or following
2
of two angles : having the vertex and one side in common
adjacently adverb
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 There are also homesites in the neighborhood adjacent to the village, which offer easy access to these amenities, along with the new Tom Fazio course (set to open in fall 2024). Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024 At press time, the Aloft Glendale at Westgate in the Westgate Entertainment District adjacent to State Farm Stadium cost $799 per night for an April 5-9 stay. Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 11 Mar. 2024 Another monitoring station will be installed on a restroom building adjacent to the Imperial Beach Pier. Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2024 Profits from future development of the Coliseum site were to be used by the team to subsidize their plans to build a ballpark six miles up Interstate 880 at Howard Terminal, adjacent to Jack London Square. Daniel Borenstein, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024 In January 2023, TDG defined a larger exploration target area adjacent to Shasta (Greater Shasta-Newberry; see TDG news release January 25, 2023). Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024 There is Phil Dike’s oil painting of the Plaza de Los Angeles from 1939, with the artist’s impression of the lively area adjacent to Olvera Street that still bustles with life today. Sarah Mosqueda, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024 The city asks that trail users observe the detour signs that will be installed to direct traffic and provide warning of adjacent work areas. Alyssa Wilmoth, arkansasonline.com, 29 Feb. 2024 Thousand Islands Conservation Area This 338-acre site located on the Banana River and adjacent to Cocoa Beach is made up of a series of islands in the Indian River Lagoon. Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'adjacent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of adjacent was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near adjacent

Cite this Entry

“Adjacent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjacent. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

adjacent

adjective
ad·​ja·​cent ə-ˈjās-ᵊnt How to pronounce adjacent (audio)
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

More from Merriam-Webster on adjacent

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