Juxtaposition meaning

jŭk'stə-pə-zĭsh'ən
Juxtaposition is defined as the act of placing two things side by side for comparison.

An example of a juxtaposition is the placing of baby blue and sky blue next to each other to see how they differ.

noun
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The act or an instance of juxtaposing or the state of being juxtaposed.
noun
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The nearness of objects with no delimiter.
  • (grammar) An absence of linking elements in a group of words that are listed together.
    Example: mother father instead of mother and father.
  • (mathematics) An absence of operators in an expression.
    Using juxtaposition for multiplication saves space when writing longer expressions. collapses to .
noun
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The extra emphasis given to a comparison when the contrasted objects are close together.
  • (art) Two or more contrasting sounds, colours, styles etc. placed together for stylistic effect.
    The juxtaposition of the bright yellows on the dark background made the painting appear three dimensional.
  • (rhetoric) The close placement of two ideas to imply a link that may not exist.
    Example: In 1965 the government was elected; in 1965 the economy took a dive.

There was a poignant juxtaposition between the boys laughing in the street and the girl crying on the balcony above.

noun
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To place in juxtaposition.
verb
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Origin of juxtaposition

From French juxtaposition, from Latin iuxtā (“near") from Latin iungō (“to join") + French position (“position") from Latin pōnō (“to place").

Sentence Examples

  • Nothing new comes or can come into being; the only change that can occur is a change in the juxtaposition of element with element.

  • The juxtaposition of the contrasting colors made the artwork stand out from the rest.

  • Among these the most conspicuous are the theatres, of which there were two, placed, as was usual in Greek towns, in close juxtaposition with one another.

  • It has been a juxtaposition of separate and generally hostile peoples in territories bound under one rule by the military sway of a dominant race.

  • Going from snowy Alaska to sunny Hawaii on the same trip made for an odd juxtaposition during the family's vacation.

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Related articles

Words near juxtaposition in the Dictionary