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.
Beaded axons themselves are not an unfamiliar sight.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Earlier this year, Tamara Rosenthal, the head of marketing at Taskrabbit, was surprised to see thousands of dollars in unfamiliar charges on her company credit card.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Why did he end up in a different area after taking an unusual and unfamiliar route?
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
The following spring, Georgia’s surveyor-general Henry Yonge planted Bowen’s unfamiliar “Chinese vetches” and harvested three crops in a single season.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
But calling Momma and saying a few unfamiliar words had my heart feeling like it was stretched across Holly’s quilting frame.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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.
