acquired

American  

[uh-kwahy-erd] / əˈkwaɪ ərd /

adjective

1. obtained or procured, such as by purchasing, receiving, learning.

2. Medicine/Medical. (of a disease or condition) developed by the patient at some point after birth.

3. Biology. (of a trait) developed by an organism in response to its environment; not inherited.

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Other Word Forms

• nonacquired adjective
• pre-acquired adjective
• reacquired adjective
• self-acquired adjective
• unacquired adjective

Explanation

The adjective acquired describes something you're not born with: you gain or develop it later in life, like your acquired taste for coffee. Acquired comes from the Latin word acquirere, meaning "to seek in addition to. Something acquired is something you have gotten, not something you always had. For example, you may have acquired the habit of buying lots...and lots of sneakers after getting a job in a shoe store. Or, if you have an acquired habit of reading novels, this is something that developed over time. After all, you weren't born reading!

Example Sentences

"Over the years we've acquired land to protect it for the nation," he says.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

Gold.com acquired Sunshine Minting, increasing capacity to three million ounces weekly, and secured a $150 million investment from Tether.

From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026

“Private equity has just acquired its largest organization.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

It was 1997 and his company Pure Software had just been acquired.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Then he gave me the sack of gunpowder that he had acquired in exchange for the kingfisher feathers and walked into the spicers’ district with his arms joyously spread.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

• captured
• collected
• seized