nodding acquaintance

noun

1. a slight, incomplete, or superficial knowledge (of something or someone):

   He had only a nodding acquaintance with Italian and didn't trust it to get him through the tour. Although we were neighbors for several years, we had only a nodding acquaintance.

2. a person with whom one is only slightly acquainted:

   I don't really know what he's like—he's only a nodding acquaintance.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nodding acquaintance¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Idioms and Phrases

Superficial knowledge of someone or something, as in I have a nodding acquaintance with the company president , or She has a nodding acquaintance with that software program . This expression alludes to knowing someone just well enough to nod or bow upon meeting him or her. “Early 1800s]

Example Sentences

I had a nodding acquaintance with His Grace, whom I had once attended for scarlatina when he was a midshipman.

From Project Gutenberg

Now I did not know him very well, and the Bish had only a nodding acquaintance with him, but he greeted us as long-lost brothers.

From Project Gutenberg

He could pick out the critics as they came down the aisle, and even had a nodding acquaintance with two of them.

From Project Gutenberg

Marie had a nodding acquaintance with this neighbour of hers and no more.

From Project Gutenberg

But it can help; it can give it at least a nodding acquaintance there.

From Project Gutenberg