unfamiliar

[uhn-fuh-mil-yer]

adjective

1. not familiar; not acquainted with or conversant about.

   to be unfamiliar with a subject.

2. different; unaccustomed; unusual; strange.

   an unfamiliar treat.

   Synonyms: new, novel, curious

unfamiliar

/ ˌʌnfəˈmɪljə, ˌʌnfəˌmɪlɪˈærɪtɪ /

adjective

1. not known or experienced; strange

2. not familiar

Other Word Forms

• unfamiliarity noun
• unfamiliarly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unfamiliar¹

First recorded in 1585–95; un- ¹ + familiar

Example Sentences

The children thought it all a great game; by turns they pretended they were moles in dark tunnels, or explorers charting an unmapped jungle, or Postal Tygers delivering the mail along an unfamiliar route.

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But somehow, pretending that she had made Penelope feel a tiny bit less nervous as she and the Incorrigibles began to navigate their way through the unfamiliar streets.

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It was familiar and unfamiliar all at once.

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It is hard to take a captive panda—one that’s been dependent on humans its whole life—erase that dependency, and replace it with an unfamiliar self-sufficiency.

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Even though the boats were fully loaded, why not dive down and see what kind of sponges grew beneath these unfamiliar waters?

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Related Words

• bizarre 
• curious 
• exotic 
• foreign 
• new 
• obscure 
• peculiar 
• unaccustomed 
• unexpected 
• unexplored 
• unknown 
• unusual