Meaning & use
recessed
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Built into a wall, ceiling or surface so that it sits slightly back instead of sticking out.
Grammar: Usually comes before the noun: recessed lighting.
Patterns
- recessed into something
The kitchen has recessed lights in the ceiling.
A recessed shelf held the books in the hallway.
The doorway was recessed from the street, so it stayed dry.
Common combinations
- recessed lighting
- Recessed lighting gives the room a clean look.
- recessed shelf
- A recessed shelf in the shower holds the shampoo.
- recessed panel
- The door has a recessed panel in the middle.
- recessed doorway
- He waited in a recessed doorway out of the rain.
- recessed into the wall
- The speaker is recessed into the wall.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sunken
- Sunken suggests something lower than the area around it, such as a bath, while recessed means set back into a wall or surface.
- inset
- Inset is close in meaning but stresses a part fitted into a larger one, often flush with it.
- hollowed
- Hollowed emphasizes the space that was cut out, not the way the object sits.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: recessed or receded?
recessed vs receded
Receded is the past tense of recede, meaning moved back or away, and does not describe a built-in fixture.
Practice
The electrician installed ___ lights, so nothing hung down from the ceiling.
Choose one answer.
Recessed lights are fitted into the ceiling and sit back from the surface. Protruding and hanging would mean they stick out.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “recessed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.