adjacent

American  

[uh-jey-suhnt] / əˈdʒeɪ sənt /

adjective

1. lying near, close, or contiguous; adjoining; neighboring.

   a motel adjacent to the highway.

   Synonyms:

   touching

   Antonyms:

   distant

2. just before, after, or facing.

   a map on an adjacent page.

3. (used in combination)

   1. related or very close to a specified topic, activity, etc..

      While the comment was not outright racist, it was racist-adjacent.

   2. supporting or being an ally of a group or subculture without being a part of it.

      She describes herself as queer-adjacent.

   3. having the traits or interests of a group or subculture without being a part of it.

      Are they full-on geeks or just nerd-adjacent?

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adjacent British  

/ əˈdʒeɪsənt /

adjective

1. being near or close, esp having a common boundary; adjoining; contiguous

2. maths

   1. (of a pair of vertices in a graph) joined by a common edge

   2. (of a pair of edges in a graph) meeting at a common vertex

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noun

1. geometry the side lying between a specified angle and a right angle in a right-angled triangle

Related Words

See adjoining.

Other Word Forms

• adjacency noun
• adjacently adverb
• nonadjacent adjective
• nonadjacently adverb
• subadjacent adjective
• subadjacently adverb
• superadjacent adjective
• superadjacently adverb
• unadjacent adjective
• unadjacently adverb

Etymology

Origin of adjacent

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin adjacent- (stem of adjacēns, present participle of adjacēre “to adjoin”), equivalent to ad- “toward” ( see ad-) + jac- “lie” + -ent- adjective suffix ( see -ent)

Explanation

Adjacent means close to or near something. You may consider the people up and down your street to be neighbors, but your next-door neighbor is the person who lives in the house or apartment adjacent to yours. Adjacent can refer to two things that touch each other or have the same wall or border. And the adjective is often followed by the preposition to: Her office is adjacent to mine. This word is from Latin adjacere "to lie near," from the prefix ad- "to" plus jacere "to lie, throw."

Example Sentences

He said the robots in an adjacent lane were really scooting.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026

And there, in the adjacent grove, had sprung up a house.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

Too many sports documentaries about players or teams are about marketing their subjects, selling, selling, selling and getting a crowd of adjacent celebrities to back up the thesis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

“The exceptional kitchen includes two La Cornue ranges, a hammered copper and wood island, a sunlit breakfast area, and an adjacent family room, both opening to the patio,” reads the listing.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

I watched my brother in the flow of a sweaty game with a group of boys on the adjacent street corner.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• adjoining
• bordering
• contiguous
• neighboring