Juxtapose

Definition

To place two things close together, especially for contrasting effect.

Beyond the definition

One of the writer's most powerful tools. Juxtaposition creates meaning through contrast — placing the sublime next to the mundane, the comic next to the tragic. It doesn't require comment; the reader supplies the meaning.

Origin & history

From Latin juxta 'next to' + French poser 'to place.' To place beside.

Example sentences

Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.

The director juxtaposed footage of luxury yachts with homeless encampments — no narration needed.

She juxtaposed childhood photos with current ones to show what stays and what changes.

Good satire juxtaposes what people say with what they do.

The architect juxtaposed exposed concrete with antique timber beams — brutal and warm, each making the other stranger and more interesting.

The most powerful eulogies juxtapose the ordinary details of a life with the size of the loss.

How to use it

This entry uses a verb. Follow the examples for tense and any objects or prepositions it needs.

Choose “Juxtapose” when the meaning fits your context: To place two things close together, especially for contrasting effect.

Synonyms

contrast, compare, set against, place beside

Antonyms

separate, isolate

Related words

• antithesis
• irony
• contrast
• foil

Juxtapose vs contrast

To juxtapose is to place two things side by side — it describes the act of deliberate positioning. Contrast describes the difference that the juxtaposition reveals. You juxtapose *in order to create* contrast; contrast is what you discover once you have. A writer juxtaposes; a reader notices the contrast. Juxtapose is the method; contrast is the result.

Word in the Wild

Illustrative story: an imagined scene, not a documented event or interview.

A photojournalist spent three weeks embedded with a billionaire's family for a magazine profile — private jets, staff who appeared silently and vanished the same way, a wine cellar that was temperature-controlled to the degree. On the last day, she asked if she could also photograph the service entrance.

The magazine ran both sets of images across a spread, side by side. No caption was needed. No editorial comment was made. The readers understood immediately.

"That's the thing about placing two things next to each other," she said later in an interview. "The reader does the work. They see what you aren't allowed to say — and because they worked it out themselves, they believe it more."

Questions about this word

What does "Juxtapose" mean?

Juxtapose is verb meaning: Placing two contrasting things side by side to reveal something in both.. To place two things close together, especially for contrasting effect.

Where does the word "Juxtapose" come from?

From Latin juxta 'next to' + French poser 'to place.' To place beside.