juxtapose
verb
jux·ta·pose
ˈjək-stə-ˌpōz 
juxtaposed; juxtaposing
: to place (different things) side by side (as to compare them or contrast them or to create an interesting effect)
… juxtapose unexpected combinations of colors, shapes and ideas …—
J. F. T. Bugental
J. F. T. Bugental
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Is juxtapose a back-formation?
A back-formation is a word that has come about through the removal of a prefix or a suffix from a longer word. Etymologists believe juxtapose is a back-formation that was created when people trimmed down the noun juxtaposition. Historical evidence supports the idea: juxtaposition shows up in the 17th century and juxtapose in the 19th. Juxtaposition is a combination of Latin juxta, meaning "near," and English "position."
Examples of juxtapose in a Sentence
a display that juxtaposes modern art with classical art
Recent Examples on the Web
The dramatic ad juxtaposes news reports of spiking costs of living, anguished-looking residents in their homes and footage of Lamont laughing, eating pizza and declaring New Haven’s pizza supremacy.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2026
Each of Cicellis’s retellings transforms its myth into a short story set in mid-20th-century Greece, juxtaposing an ancient sense of fate against the messy uncertainty of modernity.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
And to juxtapose his fall with flashbacks of his father’s rise a half-century earlier.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026
This season, the skinny jean has come storming back, buoyed in part by Michael Rider’s debut at Celine, where razor-slim pairs were juxtaposed by oversized blazers.
—Christina Holevas, Vogue, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for juxtapose
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Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2026
Each of Cicellis’s retellings transforms its myth into a short story set in mid-20th-century Greece, juxtaposing an ancient sense of fate against the messy uncertainty of modernity.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
And to juxtapose his fall with flashbacks of his father’s rise a half-century earlier.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026
This season, the skinny jean has come storming back, buoyed in part by Michael Rider’s debut at Celine, where razor-slim pairs were juxtaposed by oversized blazers.
—Christina Holevas, Vogue, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for juxtapose
Cite this Entry
“Juxtapose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juxtapose. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
juxtapose
verb
jux·ta·pose
ˈjək-stə-ˌpōz
juxtaposed; juxtaposing
: to place side by side
juxtaposition
noun
ˌjək-stə-pə-ˈzish-ən
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