acquaintance

noun

ac·quain·tance ə-ˈkwān-tᵊn(t)s How to pronounce acquaintance (audio)

: the state of being acquainted

They had a long-standing acquaintance.

: personal knowledge : familiarity

had no acquaintance with the facts of the case

: the persons with whom one is acquainted

Should auld acquaintance be forgot …

Robert Burns

: a person whom one knows but who is not a particularly close friend

a casual acquaintance

acquaintanceship

ə-ˈkwān-tᵊn(t)s-ˌship How to pronounce acquaintance (audio)

noun

Did you know?

What's the difference between friends and acquaintances?

People often distinguish between an acquaintance and a friend, holding that the former should be used primarily to refer to someone with whom one is not especially close. Many of the earliest uses of acquaintance were in fact in reference to a person with whom one was very close, but the word is now generally reserved for those who are known only slightly.

Acquaintance is often found paired with nodding. Although nodding acquaintance sounds like it describes a person who is known just enough to nod at, it tends to be used instead to refer to a thing or field with which one has a small amount of knowledge or familiarity (and this is the meaning that the phrase has had since its introduction to the language in the early 19th century).

Example Sentences

But Francis later found out that the dinner acquaintance who sweet-talked him got a thank-you check for three thousand pounds.

Julian Barnes, New Yorker, 20 Sept. 1993 But all those qualities are so wrapped up in others that one could hardly ask for two men who are, at first acquaintance, more different.

Peter Garrison, Air & Space, October/November 1991 A classical education, or at any rate a very extensive acquaintance with English literature, ancient and modern, appears to me quite indispensable for the person who would do any just to your clergyman; and I think I may boast myself to be, with all possible vanity, the most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress.

Jane Austen, letter, 11 Dec. 1815 She ran into an old acquaintance at the grocery store. our family's close acquaintance with our neighbors She struck up an acquaintance with a man from the city. He seemed cold at first, but on closer acquaintance I realized that he was just shy. While he has some acquaintance with the subject, he is not an expert. See More

Recent Examples on the Web The Sheriff’s Department didn’t say how investigators zeroed in on Contreras as a suspect, saying only that the man is an acquaintance of Rojas and his family.

Lyndsay Winkley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Aug. 2022 The Russians were advancing across the border, said the man, an active duty officer who was an acquaintance and acting in his own capacity.

Thomas Grove, WSJ, 19 July 2022 It’s every friend or acquaintance Selin meets, because the essential qualities of being eighteen, nineteen, twenty—idiocy or just naiveté, a yearning to become—are Batuman’s subject.

Rumaan Alam, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022 Police in a news release said McGriff was an acquaintance of Morataya.

Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 3 July 2022 The victim told deputies the suspect was an acquaintance, Santti said.

Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel, 31 May 2022 Falcone reveals that Batman's dad was an acquaintance who demanded the silencing of a journalist.

Darren Franich, EW.com, 10 Mar. 2022 To answer these questions, Valentine decided to study nearly 2,000 reported rape cases in which the perpetrator was an acquaintance, examining records of assault in Utah from 2017 to 2020.

Bethany Rodgers, The Salt Lake Tribune, 3 Mar. 2022 The complaint alleges that the resident was an acquaintance of then-Col. Melissa Hyatt, who has since been appointed the chief of Baltimore County Police.

Mckenna Oxenden, baltimoresun.com, 14 Feb. 2022 See More

单词	acquaintance
释义	acquaintance noun ac·quain·tance ə-ˈkwān-tᵊn(t)s 1 a : the state of being acquainted They had a long-standing acquaintance. b : personal knowledge : familiarity had no acquaintance with the facts of the case 2 a : the persons with whom one is acquainted Should auld acquaintance be forgot … Robert Burns b : a person whom one knows but who is not a particularly close friend a casual acquaintance acquaintanceship ə-ˈkwān-tᵊn(t)s-ˌship noun Did you know? What's the difference between friends and acquaintances? People often distinguish between an acquaintance and a friend, holding that the former should be used primarily to refer to someone with whom one is not especially close. Many of the earliest uses of acquaintance were in fact in reference to a person with whom one was very close, but the word is now generally reserved for those who are known only slightly. Acquaintance is often found paired with nodding. Although nodding acquaintance sounds like it describes a person who is known just enough to nod at, it tends to be used instead to refer to a thing or field with which one has a small amount of knowledge or familiarity (and this is the meaning that the phrase has had since its introduction to the language in the early 19th century). Synonyms cognizance familiarity See all Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences But Francis later found out that the dinner acquaintance who sweet-talked him got a thank-you check for three thousand pounds. Julian Barnes, New Yorker, 20 Sept. 1993 But all those qualities are so wrapped up in others that one could hardly ask for two men who are, at first acquaintance, more different. Peter Garrison, Air & Space, October/November 1991 A classical education, or at any rate a very extensive acquaintance with English literature, ancient and modern, appears to me quite indispensable for the person who would do any just to your clergyman; and I think I may boast myself to be, with all possible vanity, the most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress. Jane Austen, letter, 11 Dec. 1815 She ran into an old acquaintance at the grocery store. our family's close acquaintance with our neighbors She struck up an acquaintance with a man from the city. He seemed cold at first, but on closer acquaintance I realized that he was just shy. While he has some acquaintance with the subject, he is not an expert. See More Recent Examples on the Web The Sheriff’s Department didn’t say how investigators zeroed in on Contreras as a suspect, saying only that the man is an acquaintance of Rojas and his family. Lyndsay Winkley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Aug. 2022 The Russians were advancing across the border, said the man, an active duty officer who was an acquaintance and acting in his own capacity. Thomas Grove, WSJ, 19 July 2022 It’s every friend or acquaintance Selin meets, because the essential qualities of being eighteen, nineteen, twenty—idiocy or just naiveté, a yearning to become—are Batuman’s subject. Rumaan Alam, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022 Police in a news release said McGriff was an acquaintance of Morataya. Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 3 July 2022 The victim told deputies the suspect was an acquaintance, Santti said. Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel, 31 May 2022 Falcone reveals that Batman's dad was an acquaintance who demanded the silencing of a journalist. Darren Franich, EW.com, 10 Mar. 2022 To answer these questions, Valentine decided to study nearly 2,000 reported rape cases in which the perpetrator was an acquaintance, examining records of assault in Utah from 2017 to 2020. Bethany Rodgers, The Salt Lake Tribune, 3 Mar. 2022 The complaint alleges that the resident was an acquaintance of then-Col. Melissa Hyatt, who has since been appointed the chief of Baltimore County Police. Mckenna Oxenden, baltimoresun.com, 14 Feb. 2022 See More Word History Etymology Middle English acointance, aqueyntaunce, borrowed from Anglo-French acointance, aqueyntance, from acointer "to acquaint" + -ance -ance First Known Use 13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b Phrases Containing acquaintance acquaintance rape of one's acquaintance make the acquaintance of someone make one's acquaintance more than a passing acquaintance with on/at first acquaintance a nodding acquaintance acquaintance rape of one's acquaintance make the acquaintance of someone make one's acquaintance more than a passing acquaintance with on/at first acquaintance a nodding acquaintance See More Kids Definition acquaintance noun ac·quain·tance ə-ˈkwān-tᵊns 1 : a person someone knows slightly 2 : personal knowledge He has some acquaintance with car repair. acquaintance noun as in familiarity knowledge gained by personal experience Tiffany's acquaintance with cows is limited to a long-ago visit to a petting zoo when she was three Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance familiarity experience involvement association introduction intimacy understanding cognizance learning comprehension initiation awareness education exposure information inkling conception schooling enlightenment training instruction notion grounding Antonyms & Near Antonyms unfamiliarity ignorance inexperience greenness callowness
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acquaintance

noun

Did you know?

Synonyms

Example Sentences

Word History

Phrases Containing acquaintance

Kids Definition

noun

noun