adjective
-
not known or experienced; strange
-
not familiar
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unfamiliar
Explanation
Unfamiliar things are unknown or unexplored. On your first day at a new school, every single face you see is unfamiliar. Traveling in an unfamiliar city is easier with a map or a GPS, and meeting the unfamiliar people who live there is easier if you speak at least a few words of their language. Some people love eating unfamiliar food — things they've never tasted before — while others aren't fond of it. When something (or someone) is familiar, it's known to you — the word shares a Latin root with family. Add the "not" prefix un-, and you've got unfamiliar.
Vocabulary lists containing unfamiliar
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Strange
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Strange
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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.
A workplace, hospital, classroom, or other everyday setting might appear in a dream, but it would often be combined with unrelated places, shifting viewpoints, or unfamiliar surroundings.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
As the chair of New York’s EDC, Khan will be in an unfamiliar role — on the inside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
They argued that out-of-state doctors are not licensed to practice in California and might be unfamiliar with state laws and standards of care, putting patients at risk and making oversight and disciplinary action difficult.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Often, it’s trauma that changes us, that pushes us past the confines of what we know to be righteous and toward something cruel and unusual — a picture of ourselves that looks unfamiliar.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Because the boys were middle-schoolers still, and unfamiliar with the maze-like hallways of Fry High beyond the gym, they relied on handy direction arrows mounted on the walls of each intersection.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
