next to

1 of 2

preposition

1

: immediately following or adjacent to

2

: in comparison to

next to you I'm wealthy

next to

2 of 2

adverb

: very nearly : almost

it was next to impossible to see in the fog

Synonyms

Preposition

• about
• around
• by
• near
• nigh

Adverb

• about
• all but
• almost
• borderline
• fair [chiefly British]
• fairly
• feckly [chiefly Scottish]
• more or less
• most
• much
• near
• nearly
• nigh
• practically
• somewhere
• virtually
• well-nigh

Examples of next to in a Sentence

Preposition

enjoys living next to the ocean

next to the war, the flagging economy was the biggest campaign issue

Adverb

bought it for next to nothing

Recent Examples on the Web

Preposition

And last week, CBS News reported Hegseth had a make-up room installed for him next to the Pentagon briefing room. —Joey Garrison, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025

Seems like only yesterday that former coach Bill Belichick committed one of the biggest blunders of his mostly brilliant New England tenure, which was to hand over the offense to Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, two people with next to no experience on that side of the ball. —Steve Buckley, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025

Adverb

The left winglet of a Boeing 757 clipped the horizontal stabilizer of an empty Delta Air Lines Bombardier CRJ-900 that was parked next to it, the FAA said. —Travis Andersen, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Mar. 2023

Mulaney crouches next to his son, who is wearing a red and gray striped onesie. —Georgia Slater, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Preposition

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1596, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for next to

• accrue
• ado
• ainu
• aircrew
• airscrew
• anew
• askew
• baboo
• babu
• bamboo
• beaucoup
• bijou

Kids Definition

next to

1 of 2 preposition

: immediately following : being close to

next to the head of her class

next to

2 of 2 adverb

: very nearly : almost