proximate.

Near in space, time, or the chain of events relevant to an explanation.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• proximate cause
• proximate location

On the page

The report separated the proximate cause from deeper institutional failures.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, evaluation, qualification. Commonness: moderately common.