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

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

"A friend, family member, coworker, classmate, or acquaintance may recognise these patterns of expression and possess information that could help identify the individual responsible," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

The US president refers to Munir as his "favourite field marshal", following their acquaintance in the aftermath of conflict with India that Trump helped mediate last year.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

An acquaintance is an expert around this neighborhood, Maryvic from Trip Tours Madrid once laid it out for me.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026

“I sent word to him that I had no social acquaintance with him,” Anthony later said, “and didn’t wish to call on him.”

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Some acquaintances take the “I’ll wait until I move” approach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 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

Eventually many took turns sharing what they’d witnessed — friends and acquaintances getting detained and immigration agents swarming parking lots, sometimes dozens at a time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 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

Further inquiries elicited suspicion from male acquaintances, who wondered at my interest in such a person.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• associate
• colleague
• companion
• friend
• neighbor