adjacent

adjective

ad·​ja·​cent ə-ˈjā-sᵊnt 

1

a

: not distant : nearby

the city and adjacent suburbs

b

: having a common endpoint or border

adjacent lots

adjacent sides of a triangle

c

: immediately preceding or following

2

of two angles : having the vertex and one side in common

adjacently adverb

Synonyms

• abutting
• adjoining
• bordering
• conterminous
• contiguous
• flanking
• flush
• fringing
• joining
• juxtaposed
• neighboring
• skirting
• touching
• verging

Choose the Right Synonym for adjacent

adjacent, adjoining, contiguous, juxtaposed mean being in close proximity.

adjacent may or may not imply contact but always implies absence of anything of the same kind in between.

a house with an adjacent garage

adjoining definitely implies meeting and touching at some point or line.

had adjoining rooms at the hotel

contiguous implies having contact on all or most of one side.

offices in all 48 contiguous states

juxtaposed means placed side by side especially so as to permit comparison and contrast.

a skyscraper juxtaposed to a church

Examples of adjacent in a Sentence

The Harrimans owned two large adjacent houses on N Street, one for themselves and one for Averell Harriman's pictures. —Larry McMurtry, New York Times Review of Books, 23 Oct. 2003

Hearing unexpected chords was linked to magnetic activity in a left-brain region known as Broca's area and in adjacent right-brain tissue. —Bruce Bower, Science News, 5 May 2001

The hallways, especially those adjacent to the satellite phone, were crowded with journalists, avid to cover the Taliban takeover … —Michael Ignatieff, New Yorker, 24 Mar. 1997

Digging further in that spot and five adjacent areas, they retrieved 19 skulls, five eggs, over 150 jaws and hundreds of teeth, limbs and bone bits. —Natalie Angier, Time, 8 Oct. 1984

their house is adjacent to a wooded park

Recent Examples on the Web

Develop a product portfolio mindset: 70% proven, 20% adjacent, 10% moonshots. —Rosalba Carandente, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025

Listen to this article These are crimes reported in Poway, Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch and adjacent communities between May 5 and May 11, 2025. —Julie Gallant, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 May 2025

However, Allen’s daughter, Suzann Allen Yamini, said her mother holds the original deed to the vacant 155th Street property, and the adjacent home where her mother lives on Myrtle Avenue. —Samantha Moilanen, Chicago Tribune, 13 May 2025

The adjacent seating area with club chairs is the ideal spot for admiring waterside views and watching the palm trees sway. 06 of 12 Cozy Cottage This backyard escape captures all the charm of a storybook cottage with the stone patio, shake siding, and old-fashioned strap hinges on the shutters. —Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 11 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French agisaunt, adjesant, borrowed from Latin adjacent-, adjacens, present participle of adjacēre "to lie near, border on," from ad- ad- + jacēre "to lie," stative derivative from the base of jacere "to throw" — more at jet entry 3

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for adjacent

• complacent
• complaisant
• subjacent
• nascent

Kids Definition

adjacent

adjective

ad·​ja·​cent ə-ˈjās-ᵊnt 

1

: lying next or near : having a border or point in common

a field adjacent to the road

2

: having a vertex or a vertex and side in common

adjacent angles

adjacent sides of a rectangle

adjacently adverb