Definition
To juxtapose is to put two things next to each other on purpose — usually so that the contrast between them says something neither could say alone. A film juxtaposes wealth and poverty in adjacent shots; an essay juxtaposes two thinkers; a gallery hangs a medieval icon beside a neon sign. From the Latin juxta, 'next to': the technique is pure placement, and the meaning appears in the gap.
Examples
- The documentary juxtaposes scenes of luxury hotels with the slums a street away.
- The exhibition juxtaposes Renaissance portraits with contemporary photography.
- Juxtaposing the two translations reveals how differently each handles humor.
Synonyms
set side by side · place together · contrast · pair · collocate
In TOEFL & IELTS
A TOEFL arts-and-literature regular: passages on collage, montage, and rhetoric lean on 'juxtaposition', and rhetorical-purpose questions ask why an author juxtaposes two examples. In IELTS writing about art or media, 'the juxtaposition of X and Y' is an instant register-raiser. Note the noun stress: juxtapoSItion.