adjective
-
not known or experienced; strange
-
not familiar
Other Word Forms
- unfamiliarity noun
- unfamiliarly adverb
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
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.
Even the serial champions are on unfamiliar terrain.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
However, the extreme conditions in these environments likely force these familiar compounds into exotic and unfamiliar forms.
From Science Daily • Apr. 21, 2026
Remaining in an existing home has powerful appeal compared with uprooting one’s life and relocating to somewhere new and unfamiliar.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026
And yet, as Daniela Gerson observes in “The Wanderers,” the survival stories of the Jewish refugees under Stalin remain largely unfamiliar.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
The actions for this rhyme are indicative of life and culture in India, and include motions that are both familiar and unfamiliar to children’s game songs in the U.S.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
