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
-
(foll by with) having knowledge or experience (of); familiar (with)
Other Word Forms
- acquaintedness noun
- half-acquainted adjective
- quasi-acquainted adjective
- unacquainted adjective
- well-acquainted adjective
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.
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
It’s time for investors to get acquainted with robots.
From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026
The son of an Army officer who fought in the Vietnam War, Cooper was well acquainted with military strategy from a young age, friends and former classmates say.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
To get in the spirit of things, I’ve been curled up with books about the founders, particularly George Washington, someone I became acquainted with when I wrote a book about him many years ago.
From Slate • Feb. 16, 2026
Motive: Was intimately acquainted with Armstrong family, and godmother to Sonia Armstrong.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
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.
