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.
See Examples For:
Then, on Sunday, the story got much stranger when the FDA announced that the sample provided by “Taylor Farms de Mexico,” which had initially tested positive, was actually a false positive.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Yet a different legal theory—older and stranger than consumer protection—is driving the cases with the furthest reach, and it had no part in these suits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
How could he embrace this stranger as his twin?
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Luckily the 16-year-old is no stranger to the spotlight, having appeared on both Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent, performed on the West End, and represented Ireland at the 2022 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The idea of talking to a random stranger makes me nervous, but it does seem like the safest option.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
"And then Jimothy shows up and for one brief weird moment everyone is on the same page - rooting for this little gremlin, giggling at his name, feeling weirdly connected to strangers over absolutely nothing."
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
These have snowballed into huge high-stakes challenges where he gives away large sums of money to strangers.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
People have sent her nasty messages online, and strangers have stopped her on the street to tell her they hope Argentina loses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
OJM devotes a considerable share of its content to Costco-related high-jinks, and even hosted a chicken-eating contest that drew hundreds of strangers to a sidewalk in Park Slope last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
In a stroke of good luck for Booth, for unknown reasons Samuel Mudd’s cousin George failed to ride into town to report the strangers to the cavalry.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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.
