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 of next to

Preposition

• near
• around
• next door to
• beside
• by
• at

Adverb

• almost
• nearly
• practically
• just about
• fairly
• about
• pretty much

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

Taking his seat in the recording chair next to his mom, Psalm started reading his lines as the director praised the 6-year-old’s voice. —Kirsty Hatcher, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025

The garden, bearing the name of Emperor Qianlong, sits next to another popular tourist site inside the museum. —Fred He, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025

Adverb

However, Cena outsmarted him by grabbing the chair, throwing it next to Dom, and pretending to be down on the mat. —Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025

Trent Frederic spent a couple of days getting maligned over doing next to nothing so far this season — one goal, no fights and little hitting — and even drew some criticism from Knoblauch. —Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025

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