stranger
Americannoun
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a person with whom one has had no personal acquaintance.
He is a perfect stranger to me.
- Antonyms:
- acquaintance
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a newcomer in a place or locality.
a stranger in town.
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an outsider.
They want no strangers in on the club meetings.
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a person who is unacquainted with or unaccustomed to something (usually followed byto ).
He is no stranger to poverty.
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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.
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Law. one not privy or party to an act, proceeding, etc.
noun
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any person whom one does not know
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a person who is new to a particular locality, from another region, town, etc
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a guest or visitor
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(foll by to) a person who is unfamiliar (with) or new (to) something
he is no stranger to computers
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law a person who is neither party nor privy to a transaction
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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?"
Vocabulary lists containing stranger
"Encounter"
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"One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia, List 1
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"Old World New World" and "The Log of Christopher Columbus"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Stranger still, he knew the friends who had taken me in after everything fell apart — people who had become part of the story I told in the podcast.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
American actor, Matarazzo, 23, became a global star after his portrayal of Dustin Henderson in the Netflix sci-fi horror series, Stranger Things.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
Ms. Koons uses movement sparingly, in moments such as the arrival of the Stranger and Thorn Rose’s climb to the turret.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
West, one of the grande dames of the movement, got her start at Seattle alt-weekly the Stranger and spent years excoriating fatphobia, online misogyny, and male entitlement for the ur-millennial-feminist site Jezebel.
From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026
Stranger still, the battle could not have ended in death.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
