Showing results for "stranger"

• comparative of strange.

stranger

American  

[strayn-jer] / ˈstreɪn dʒər /

noun

• strangers
  plural

1. a person with whom one has had no personal acquaintance.

   He is a perfect stranger to me.

   Antonyms:

   acquaintance

2. a newcomer in a place or locality.

   a stranger in town.

3. an outsider.

   They want no strangers in on the club meetings.

4. a person who is unacquainted with or unaccustomed to something (usually followed byto ).

   He is no stranger to poverty.

5. a person who is not a member of the family, group, community, or the like, as a visitor or guest.

   Our town shows hospitality to strangers.

6. Law. one not privy or party to an act, proceeding, etc.

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stranger British  

/ ˈstreɪndʒə /

noun

1. any person whom one does not know

2. a person who is new to a particular locality, from another region, town, etc

3. a guest or visitor

4. (foll by to) a person who is unfamiliar (with) or new (to) something

   he is no stranger to computers

5. law a person who is neither party nor privy to a transaction

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Synonym Usage

Stranger, foreigner both refer to someone regarded as outside of or distinct from a particular group. Stranger may apply to one who does not belong to some group—social, professional, national, etc.—or may apply to a person with whom one is not acquainted. Foreigner emphasizes a difference in language, customs, and background.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• strangerlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• strangers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stranger

1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French estrangier, equivalent to estrange strange + -ier -ier ²

Explanation

A stranger is someone you don't know or who doesn't belong in a specific place. Parents tell their kids, "Don't talk to strangers." That's because strangers are people they don't know, who could be dangerous. Just like strange things are odd or weird, a stranger is unknown and therefore potentially scary. Also, anyone out of place can be considered a stranger. A fireman in a police station is a stranger, and a mascot in a scientific lab is a stranger. Either type of stranger is likely to make someone say, "Who's that?"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stranger strangers

Volvo Cars, a Swedish carmaker owned by a Chinese company that has a factory and material sales in the U.S., is no stranger to straddling geopolitical divides.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Tishman Speyer is no stranger to the famous 77-story office tower: the developer bought the lease at auction in 1997 and finished fully divesting from it in 2019.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

And the person next to you, a stranger, feels it too, at the exact same moment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

Lee said the stranger walked off afterwards without saying a word.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

I was about to lose hope amid all these tree names when a stranger told me the name of the next one.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

“It’s a celebration of strangers that are meeting for one purpose of creating a nation out of things that maybe you cannot understand.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Sometimes you are sitting in a dark theater with strangers and the right note gets struck, and you hear it with your ears but you feel it somewhere else entirely.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

Some have described strangers walking into churches and questioning those inside: "What is your name? Why are you here? Has anyone offered you something?"

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

On social media, she asked strangers whether she should ask the seller to reimburse the cost of appraisals and inspections.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Suspecting or already knowing who the two strangers were, Mrs. Quesenberry decided that this was too big a job to handle by herself.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

Related Words

• alien
• foreigner
• guest
• immigrant
• intruder
• newcomer
• outsider
• visitor