stranger

[streyn-jer]

noun

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.

stranger

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• strangerlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stranger¹

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

YouTube more recently spawned a subgenre now popular on TikTok in which video creators stop and talk to strangers on the street in hopes of generating surprisingly comedic or provocative content.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It could be your mum, it could be your dad, it could be your sister or it could be a friend, neighbour, stranger," explains Cameron, who now lives with his aunt.

Read more on BBC

Then, the researcher who was running the test invited a panel of three strangers into the room.

Read more on BBC

For the most part, they looked like strangers, incoherent in possession and vulnerable out.

Read more on BBC

I see people hold the door for strangers.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• alien 
• foreigner 
• guest 
• immigrant 
• intruder www.thesaurus.com
• newcomer 
• outsider 
• visitor