acquaintance

American  

[uh-kweyn-tns] / əˈkweɪn tns /

Also acquaintanceship

noun

• acquaintances
  plural

1. a person known to one, but usually not a close friend.

2. the state of being acquainted or casually familiar with someone or something.

   As far as I know, no one of my acquaintance has traveled around the world.

3. personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc..

   a good acquaintance with French wines.

   Synonyms:

   awareness, familiarity

4. (used with a plural verb) the persons with whom one is acquainted.

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acquaintance British  

/ əˈkweɪntəns /

noun

1. a person with whom one has been in contact but who is not a close friend

2. knowledge of a person or thing, esp when slight

3. to come into social contact with

4. those persons collectively whom one knows

5. philosophy the relation between a knower and the object of his knowledge, as contrasted with knowledge by description (esp in the phrase knowledge by acquaintance )

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acquaintance Idioms  

1. see nodding acquaintance; scrape up an acquaintance.

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Synonym Usage

Acquaintance, associate, companion, friend refer to a person with whom one is in contact. An acquaintance is someone recognized by sight or someone known, though not intimately: a casual acquaintance. An associate is a person who is often in one's company, usually because of some work, enterprise, or pursuit in common: a business associate. A companion is a person who shares one's activities, fate, or condition: a traveling companion; companion in despair. A friend is a person with whom one is on intimate terms and for whom one feels a warm affection: a trusted friend.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• acquaintanceship
  noun
• nonacquaintance
  noun
• nonacquaintanceship
  noun
• preacquaintance
  noun
• pseudoacquaintance
  noun
• reacquaintance
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• acquaintances
  plural

Etymology

Origin of acquaintance

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English acoyntaunce, aqueinta(u)nce, from Old French acointance; equivalent to acquaint + -ance

Explanation

An acquaintance is someone you know a little about, but they’re not your best friend or anything. Acquaintance is also having knowledge about something specific, like horror films or the farming techniques of Chinese peasants. The root of acquaintance is the Old French word acointier, a verb meaning “make known.” Being the acquaintance of a person or topic means that you know something about it. An acquaintance is less intimate than a friend, like a person in your class whose name you know, but that’s it. When you “make the acquaintance of” someone, you meet them for the first time. If you know nothing about eggplants, you’d say, “I have little acquaintance with eggplants.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

acquaintance acquaintances

A special type of indie film teaches you how to see it as you watch it — not as an instructor might a student, but as an ally would a new acquaintance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

When she told an acquaintance about it, they said, “These are not your friends. You need a lawyer, right away.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Ballard, who originally self-published the novel before Hachette acquired the rights, has denied these claims, saying AI was used by an acquaintance who had edited the book.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Earlier that day, however, witnesses testified that Powers had argued with a mutual acquaintance of Byrd and Roberts named Bud.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

This was the forerunner of the Royal Society, and it was through Katherine that Robert began to make the acquaintance of these men on his visits to London.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

When I was pregnant with my daughter in 2016, I started getting at least one inquiry a week from friends and acquaintances who were also expecting.

From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026

Yu, who said he’s spoken with his and Wang’s mutual acquaintances to offer help for Gu Grocery, noted that he hasn’t been approached by the mom-and-pop team.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

She had told them that on 15 July she would go to Kypseli, where her "American friends" or acquaintances were.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

I’ve tried for a year to get some of my closest acquaintances to understand why this song is so great, why I find it so bizarrely beautiful, but few do.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026

“I’ve made more friends and acquaintances through football than anything.”

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Related Words

• associate
• colleague
• companion
• friend
• neighbor