unacquainted
Britishadjective
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not familiar or conversant with (someone or something)
-
(of people) not having met or been introduced
Explanation
If you're unacquainted with someone, the two of you have never met. If you and your next-door neighbor are unacquainted, it would be friendly to introduce yourself. When people are unacquainted, they don't know each other, and if you're unacquainted with something, it's completely unfamiliar to you. So if your best friend is unacquainted with the music of your favorite band, you might decide to buy her a concert ticket, so she can become familiar (or acquainted) with their music. The Latin root, accognoscere, means "know well."
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.
Writing the screenplay for “Women Talking” required a rigor and ruthlessness I was previously unacquainted with.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2023
To anyone unacquainted, this seemed like a truly bizarre moment.
From Salon • Nov. 9, 2022
As Bauerlein says, unacquainted with literature, they are content with cliches.
From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2022
He was regularly called a Renaissance man, and although he disliked the term, which he said was invariably used “by people unacquainted with the Renaissance,” it fit him well.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 27, 2019
“The spelling of my country estate is a little difficult for those unacquainted with the language.”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
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.
