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

And last year, Pepsi acquired Poppi, which makes soda with prebiotic fiber in it, for $1.95 billion.

From MarketWatch • May 10, 2026

Since the state acquired the forest, “we have more trees on the landscape, more habitat and those trees are trending larger,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2026

That’s because most cases of hantavirus, including Andes virus, are acquired directly from rodents or their excrement and not from other humans.

From Salon • May 9, 2026

Following the transaction, the executive owned 105,077 company shares, including 561 acquired through an employee stock purchase plan back in February.

From Barron's • May 7, 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