adjunct

noun ad·junct \ ˈa-ˌjəŋ(k)t \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of adjunct

1 : something joined or added to another thing but not essentially a part of it

The website is designed as an adjunct to the book.

2 grammar

a : a word or word group that qualifies or completes the meaning of another word or other words and is not itself a main structural element in its sentence

b : an adverb or adverbial phrase (such as heartily in "They ate heartily" or at noon in "We left at noon") attached to the verb of a clause especially to express a relation of time, place, frequency, degree, or manner — compare disjunct 2

3 a : an associate or assistant of another

b : an adjunct faculty member at a college or university (see ²adjunct 2)

4 : adjuvant b

—

adjunctive

play \a-ˈjəŋ(k)-tiv, ə-\ adjective

See adjunct defined for English-language learners

See adjunct defined for kids

Examples of adjunct in a Sentence

Because Joseph Ellis has been an outspoken critic of social and women's history, he appears a peculiar choice to write the foreword, despite his many publications on the Revolutionary era. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, he treats Abigail here more as her husband's adjunct and supporter than as her own woman. —Anthony Lewis, New York Times Book Review, 4 Nov. 2007
As an adjunct to its basic educational role, the public library will increasingly serve as an access point to the resources of other libraries as well as to nonlibrary sources of publicly available information. —Fred Lerner, The Story of Libraries, (1945) 1998
In A.D. 400 western Europe was merely a geographic expression. Roman civilization was centered on the Mediterranean, and France, England, and the Rhine valley were mere adjuncts of the Mediterranean world. —Norman F. Cantor, The Civilization of the Middle Ages, 1993
Massage therapy can be used as an adjunct along with the medication.
In “They ate heartily,” the word heartily is an adjunct and in “We left at noon,” the phrase at noon is an adjunct.

Recent Examples of adjunct from the Web

William Courtney is an adjunct senior fellow at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, and a former U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, Georgia, and a U.S. Soviet commission to implement the Threshold Test Ban Treaty.

— miriam matthews, Newsweek, "Putin's Boasting About Nuclear Weapons Won't Help Him In The Russian Election," 15 Mar. 2018
Made with adjuncts just like High Life, Chug Life is significantly more flavorful, dry-hopped with Centennial and just a kiss of malty sweetness.

— aaron goldfarb, Esquire, "Low Calorie Beers Are Everywhere. Here Are 8 That Taste Good.," 14 Mar. 2018
In general, Oates is dealing here with the academic world — professors and their kids, editors, writers, adjuncts — people who live in the provinces, on the outskirts of real success.

— benjamin markovits, New York Times, "Sex, Lies and Subterfuge Roil Joyce Carol Oates’s New Story Collection," 5 Mar. 2018
This collection is a sort of sequel or adjunct to Hillman's elemental quartet, each of which took its inspiration from one of the four classical elements: earth, air, water and fire.

— craig morgan teicher, latimes.com, "Brenda Hillman's 'Extra Hidden Life, Among the Days' ponders how poetry can help us chronicle, engage, grieve," 9 Mar. 2018
True or not, the more important consequence was that gun rights increasingly became a partisan issue, and the NRA had little choice but to become an adjunct of the GOP.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Stances on guns, immigration reflect the sea change in cultural politics," 1 Mar. 2018
And by freeing the adjuncts of one classroom responsibility, the codes help justify their low pay.

— laura mckenna, The Atlantic, "Why Students Are Still Spending So Much for College Textbooks," 26 Jan. 2018
Because of the costs, experts said, smaller colleges that hired Jamal to lecture part-time as an adjunct professor weren’t apt to commit to work visas for him.

— rick montgomery, kansascity, "By the time ICE arrested Syed Jamal, he was low on options with immigration law | The Kansas City Star," 25 Feb. 2018
That no longer makes sense in a country in which average earnings for adjunct professors, who often have Ph.

— sarah jaffe, New Republic, "The New Working Class," 22 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adjunct.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Breaking Down adjunct

With its prefix, ad-, meaning "to or toward", adjunct implies that one thing is "joined to" another. A car wash may be operated as an adjunct to a gas station. An adjunct professor is one who's attached to the college without being a full member of the salaried faculty. And anyone trying to expand his or her vocabulary will find that daily reading of a newspaper is a worthwhile adjunct to actual vocabulary study.

Origin and Etymology of adjunct

borrowed from Latin adjunctum "concomitant factor," from neuter of adjunctus ²adjunct

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1554

See Words from the same year

adjunct Synonyms

Synonyms

accessory (also accessary), accoutrement (or accouterment), adapter (also adaptor), add-on, appendage, appliance, attachment, option;

Near Antonyms

essential, necessity, requirement, requisite;

auxiliary, subsidiary;

amenity, doodad, extra, filler, frill, incidental, luxury, nonessential, nonnecessity;

appurtenances, bells and whistles, equipment, furnishings, paraphernalia, trappings;

adornment, decoration, embellishment, enhancement, ornament, trim, trimming;

adjunct

adjective ad·junct \ ˈa-ˌjəŋ(k)t \

Definition of adjunct

1 : added or joined as an accompanying object or circumstance

2 : attached in a subordinate or temporary capacity to a staff

an adjunct professor

—

adjunctly

play \ˈa-ˌjəŋ(k)-tlē, -ˌjəŋk-lē\ adverb

See adjunct defined for English-language learners

Examples of adjunct in a Sentence

But it's Sainte-Marie's less-well-known life as a computer geek—and an adjunct professor of digital art, Native American studies, and philosophy at several universities—that brings her to midtown Manhattan today. —Ophira Edut, Ms., August/September 1999
There is a terrible shortage of jobs in the universities, where, increasingly, men and women with Ph.D.s hang on to various forms of underpaid adjunct posts. Believe me, it happens at Harvard, too. —Martin Peretz, New Republic, 5 July 1999
Using his chauffeur-driven car as an adjunct office, the designer shuttles among the design ateliers of his three major collections: the one that bears his name; Chanel, and, after a seven-year hiatus, Chloé. —Carrie Donovan, New York Times Magazine, 11 Oct. 1992
massage therapy as an adjunct treatment

Recent Examples of adjunct from the Web

After serving as ombudsman of The Post, Mr. Zagoria became a labor arbitrator and worked as an adjunct professor of journalism at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and of labor relations at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

— staff reports, Washington Post, "Sam Zagoria, Washington Post ombudsman and labor relations specialist, dies at 98," 7 Apr. 2018
Warren Blumenfeld is an adjunct professor at University of Massachusetts at Amherst whose research topics include religion, gender and LGBT issues.

— Fox News, "Trump takes steps to make good on border security promise," 7 Apr. 2018
For example, Monica Starks of Bedford Heights returned to work as an adjunct sociology professor in March after being off for 1-1/2 years after suffering a stroke.

— ginger christ, cleveland.com, "Ohio groups, officials oppose Medicaid work requirements, as state prepares to submit waiver to federal government," 3 Apr. 2018
Sheikh Omar Suleiman, an adjunct professor of Islamic studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, was the keynote speaker at a town hall meeting at the Salam Islamic Center.

— cathy locke, sacbee, "Town hall prompted by Stephon Clark shooting calls for community to fight injustice | The Sacramento Bee," 28 Mar. 2018
But Christopher Swift, adjunct professor of national security studies at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, said Trump could use his authority as commander-in-chief to build a border wall on an emergency basis.

— sig christenson, San Antonio Express-News, "Trump wants border wall built with military spending," 27 Mar. 2018
Lowering the nicotine level in cigarettes will make cigarettes less rewarding, William J. McCarthy, Ph.D., adjunct professor of health policy and management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, tells SELF.

— korin miller, SELF, "The FDA Wants to Limit the Amount of Nicotine in Cigarettes, but Would That Actually Lower Addiction Rates?," 27 Mar. 2018
Ohnstad still works as an adjunct professor at the Maritime Institute of Technology.

— john maffei, sandiegouniontribune.com, "American Legion baseball trying to make a comeback," 22 Mar. 2018
Solomon is an attorney in private practice as well as an adjunct professor at South Suburban College in South Holland.

— mike nolan, Daily Southtown, "In 38th House race, taxes emerge as a key issue," 10 Mar. 2018

Origin and Etymology of adjunct

borrowed from Latin adjunctus, past participle of adjungere "to link up, join, add, attach" — more at adjoin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1516

See Words from the same year

Other Education Terms

baccalaureate, colloquium, corequisite, dissertation, monograph, pedant, practicum, survey course, thesis

ADJUNCT Defined for English Language Learners

adjunct

noun

Definition of adjunct for English Language Learners

: something that is joined or added to another thing but is not an essential part of it
grammar : a word or phrase (such as an adverb or prepositional phrase) that provides added information about the meaning of a verb in a sentence by expressing a relation of time, place, manner, etc.

adjunct

adjective

Definition of adjunct for English Language Learners

: added or joined in order to be used with something
: added to a teaching staff for only a short time or in a lower position than other staff

Medical Dictionary

adjunct

noun ad·junct \ ˈaj-ˌəŋ(k)t \

medical Definition of adjunct

1 : a person associated with or assisting another in some duty or service

2 : adjuvant b

drugs used as short-term adjuncts in weight-loss programs

adjunct

adjective

medical Definition of adjunct

1 : added or joined as an accompanying object or circumstance

2 : attached in a subordinate or temporary capacity to a staff

an adjunct psychiatrist

Learn More about adjunct

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adjunct

Definition of adjunct

adjunctive

Examples of adjunct in a Sentence

Recent Examples of adjunct from the Web

Breaking Down adjunct

Origin and Etymology of adjunct

adjunct Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

adjunct

Definition of adjunct

adjunctly

Examples of adjunct in a Sentence

Recent Examples of adjunct from the Web

Origin and Etymology of adjunct

Other Education Terms

ADJUNCT Defined for English Language Learners

adjunct

Definition of adjunct for English Language Learners

adjunct

Definition of adjunct for English Language Learners

Medical Dictionary

adjunct

medical Definition of adjunct

adjunct

medical Definition of adjunct

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