Meaning & use
non-adjacent
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Not next to or touching each other; separated by at least one other thing.
Grammar: Used before a noun and not usually after the verb: a non-adjacent seat, not 'the seat is non-adjacent'.
Patterns
- non-adjacent to something
- non-adjacent seats/rows/cells
The two friends booked non-adjacent seats on the flight and had to talk across the aisle.
Please keep non-adjacent plants in separate pots so their roots do not tangle.
In this puzzle you must fill in non-adjacent squares with the same number.
adjectivebefore a nountechnicalmathematics
In geometry, (of angles) not sharing a side or vertex with each other.
Grammar: A technical use; it still stands before the noun it describes.
Patterns
- non-adjacent angles
- non-adjacent sides
The teacher asked us to find two non-adjacent angles in the figure.
A diagonal joins two non-adjacent corners of the shape.
adjectivebefore a nounspecialist
In grammar, (of words or clauses) not directly next to each other in a sentence.
Grammar: Common in linguistics writing; it describes the position of elements in a string of words.
Patterns
- non-adjacent elements
- non-adjacent words
The study looks at how children link non-adjacent words in a sentence.
Some languages allow non-adjacent parts of a phrase to appear far apart.
Common combinations
- non-adjacent seats
- We ended up with non-adjacent seats at the cinema.
- non-adjacent cells
- The spreadsheet highlights non-adjacent cells in different colors.
- non-adjacent angles
- Two non-adjacent angles in the diagram add up to 180 degrees.
- non-adjacent elements
- The program can select non-adjacent elements from the list.
- non-adjacent to each other
- The houses are non-adjacent to each other, with a park in between.
Synonyms and how they differ
- separate
- Broader and more common; it means apart in general, while non-adjacent specifically means not directly next to each other.
- detached
- Often used for buildings that stand alone; it does not carry the precise 'not next in a row' meaning.
- distant
- Suggests a large gap, whereas non-adjacent only says there is something in between.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: non-adjacent or nonadjacent? non-adjacent or adjacent?
non-adjacent vs nonadjacent
The same word written without a hyphen; both spellings appear, but the hyphenated form is more common in careful writing.
non-adjacent vs adjacent
This is the opposite meaning, so 'non-adjacent seats' and 'adjacent seats' describe very different seating arrangements.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'non-adjacent' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Non-adjacent seats' means the seats are not next to each other, which fits the sentence about two rows in between. Option 0 is wrong because buildings that share a wall are adjacent. Option 2 uses the word in a meaningless phrase, and option 3 uses an adjective where an adverb of manner is needed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non-adjacent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.