juxtaposition
noun
jux·ta·po·si·tion
ˌjək-stə-pə-ˈzi-shən 
: the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect
an unusual juxtaposition of colors
The juxtaposition of Holly's career with the content of her podcast might leave audience members scratching their heads.—
Nick Kasmik
Nick Kasmik
also
: the state of being so placed
contrasting shapes placed in juxtaposition to each other
A five-minute ferry ride from Brooklyn and Manhattan, [Governor's Island] feels distant yet impossibly close, and the juxtaposition of vertical city and languorous landscape is almost surreal. —Justin Davidson
Justin Davidson Examples of juxtaposition in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The number of women in Christian pulpits stands in jarring juxtaposition with the Easter narratives in the New Testament.
—Mary Foskett, The Conversation, 20 Mar. 2026
Koolhaas sang the joys of juxtapositions in his 1978 book Delirious New York, and here his firm has cultivated a distinctively New York–y jangle of forms in which the utilitarian becomes the theatrical.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 19 Mar. 2026
Pairing the caustic stylings of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog with those of human vanilla milkshake Jack McBrayer is a perfect recipe for comic juxtaposition on paper.
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2026
These life-size sculptures are fixed to walls with metal supports, placed on chairs to register bodily scale, or positioned on the floor in juxtaposition with larger compositions.
—Li Qi, Artforum, 6 Mar. 2026
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Mary Foskett, The Conversation, 20 Mar. 2026
Koolhaas sang the joys of juxtapositions in his 1978 book Delirious New York, and here his firm has cultivated a distinctively New York–y jangle of forms in which the utilitarian becomes the theatrical.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 19 Mar. 2026
Pairing the caustic stylings of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog with those of human vanilla milkshake Jack McBrayer is a perfect recipe for comic juxtaposition on paper.
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2026
These life-size sculptures are fixed to walls with metal supports, placed on chairs to register bodily scale, or positioned on the floor in juxtaposition with larger compositions.
—Li Qi, Artforum, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for juxtaposition
Cite this Entry
“Juxtaposition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juxtaposition. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
juxtaposition
noun
jux·ta·po·si·tion
ˌjək-stə-pə-ˈzish-ən
: the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side
also
: the state of being so placed
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