acquainted
Americanadjective
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having personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc.; informed (usually followed bywith ).
to be acquainted with law.
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brought into social contact; made familiar.
people acquainted through mutual friends.
adjective
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(sometimes foll by with) on terms of familiarity but not intimacy
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(foll by with) having knowledge or experience (of); familiar (with)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of acquainted
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; acquaint + -ed 2
Explanation
When you're acquainted with someone, it means you know each other. If you're taking the city bus and realize that you know several of your fellow riders, you could say, "I'm acquainted with half of the passengers on this bus." As long as you know something or someone fairly well, you are acquainted with it, so you can be acquainted with a city, a mathematical idea, or a particular poem. The trickiest thing about the word acquainted is the way it's spelled. Like the words acquit and acquire, you just have to keep in mind that a c needs to go before the qu. After you've spelled it several times, you'll be well acquainted with the correct spelling.
Vocabulary lists containing acquainted
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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The Color Purple
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Samson, who is studying to be a crime analyst, found that it was easy to get acquainted with the older residents.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
While European and other international sports fans are acquainted with ease of foot travel, getting around as a pedestrian is practically impossible in the biggest stadium in the United States’ biggest metro area.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Brontë was born in 1818 into a household acquainted with grief; her mother died in 1821 and her two eldest siblings within weeks of each other in 1825.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Zampolli, who was acquainted with Epstein through the modeling world and also appears in the Epstein documents, said that it was no surprise that Melania Trump would have come across Epstein and Maxwell.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
But for the first hour, while the new prisoners got acquainted with their new cells, there was much yelling from the guards about where and how to stand and sit, what not to touch.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
