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

That’s adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and north-northeast of the Nantahala National Forest. —Alan Wooten | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 26 Jan. 2025

The finals used to be held at Madison Square Garden but have found a nice niche at the Nike Armory in Washington Heights, which is also the home of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and adjacent to Columbia Presbyterian hospital. —Tony Paige, New York Daily News, 25 Jan. 2025

Nothing Bundt Cakes will be next to a Little Caesars pizza restaurant and adjacent to VisionWorks, an optical retail store. —Marcus D. Smith, Sacramento Bee, 23 Jan. 2025

Wrapped in a floral pattern, the adjacent front parlor is where employees can find inspiration perusing the many design books and magazines. —David Foxley, Architectural Digest, 23 Jan. 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

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