What does nonadjacent mean?
Nonadjacent means not immediately next to, adjoining, or directly connected with something else. It describes a relationship of separation rather than distance alone: two nonadjacent seats, for example, have another seat or row between them, while nonadjacent vertices in a graph have no edge joining them. The word is most useful in precise descriptions of physical arrangements and in technical fields such as mathematics, computing, and graph theory. Compared with informal alternatives such as “far apart,” it emphasizes the absence of adjacency or direct connection. It is also commonly contrasted with “adjacent,” its standard opposite. Although “nonadjacent” is sometimes written with a hyphen as “non-adjacent,” the closed form is widely accepted in modern English.
adjectiveNot adjacent; separated or not immediately next to something else. In mathematics and computing, the term may refer to elements that do not share a direct connection or consecutive position.
- Not immediately next to or adjoining something else.
- In mathematics or computing, not directly connected, consecutive, or sharing an edge.
"The two nonadjacent seats were separated by an empty row."
"Choose two nonadjacent rows if you want more space between the seats."
"The algorithm checks only nonadjacent vertices in the graph."
In graph theory, nonadjacent vertices are not joined by an edge—making the term a concise way to describe absence of a direct connection.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does nonadjacent come from?
The word combines the prefix non-, meaning “not,” with adjacent, which comes from Latin ad- (“to” or “toward”) and jacere (“to lie or throw”), ultimately expressing the idea of lying or being placed toward or beside something. The compound therefore literally means “not adjoining.” The related noun adjacency and the verb adjoin belong to the same etymological family.
Related word forms
How nonadjacent is actually used
The word is formal and especially common in technical contexts. It is more precise than simply saying that two things are far apart, since it specifically means that they are not immediately adjoining.