adjunct

UK: /ˈædʒʌŋkt/ US: /ˈædʒʌŋkt/ ,(aj′ungkt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ad•junct /ˈædʒʌŋkt/   n. [countable]

1. something added to another thing but that is not essential to it.
2. a person who is an associate or assistant of another.

adj. 

3. associated in a temporary or subordinate relationship:
   an adjunct professor.

See -junc-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ad•junct  (aj′ungkt), n. 

1. something added to another thing but not essential to it.
2. a person associated with lesser status, rank, authority, etc., in some duty or service;
   assistant.
3. a person working at an institution, as a college or university, without having full or permanent status:
   My lawyer works two nights a week as an adjunct, teaching business law at the college.
4. Grammar a modifying form, word, or phrase depending on some other form, word, or phrase, esp. an element of clause structure with adverbial function.

adj. 

5. joined or associated, esp. in an auxiliary or subordinate relationship.
6. Education attached or belonging without full or permanent status:
   an adjunct surgeon on the hospital staff.

• Latin adjunctus joined to (past participle of adjungere), equivalent. to ad- ad- + jung- (nasal variant of jug- yoke¹) + -tus past participle suffix
• 1580–90

ad•junct′ly, adv. 
Synonyms

• 1. appendix, supplement. See addition. 
• 2. aide, attaché.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

adjunct / ˈædʒʌŋkt/ noun

1. something incidental or not essential that is added to something else
2. a person who is subordinate to another
3. part of a sentence other than the subject or the predicate
4. part of a sentence that may be omitted without making the sentence ungrammatical; a modifier

adjective

1. added or connected in a secondary or subordinate position; auxiliary

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin adjunctus, past participle of adjungere to adjoin

adjunctive / əˈdʒʌŋktɪv/ adjective

adjunctively / əˈdʒʌŋktɪvlɪ/ adverb

ˈadjunctly adverb