acquaintance

[ uh-kweyn-tns ]

noun

1. a person known to one, but usually not a close friend.
2. the state of being acquainted or casually familiar with someone or something:

   As far as I know, no one of my acquaintance has traveled around the world.

3. personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc.:

   a good acquaintance with French wines.

   Synonyms: awareness, familiarity

4. (used with a plural verb) the persons with whom one is acquainted.

acquaintance

/ əˈkweɪntəns /

noun

1. a person with whom one has been in contact but who is not a close friend
2. knowledge of a person or thing, esp when slight
3. make the acquaintance of
   to come into social contact with
4. those persons collectively whom one knows
5. philosophy the relation between a knower and the object of his knowledge, as contrasted with knowledge by description (esp in the phrase knowledge by acquaintance )

Derived Forms

• acˈquaintanceˌship, noun

Other Word Forms

• non·ac·quaint·ance noun
• non·ac·quaint·ance·ship noun
• pre·ac·quaint·ance noun
• pseu·do·ac·quaint·ance noun
• re·ac·quaint·ance noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of acquaintance¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English acoyntaunce, aqueinta(u)nce, from Old French acointance; equivalent to acquaint + -ance

Idioms and Phrases

see nodding acquaintance ; scrape up an acquaintance .

Synonym Study

Acquaintance, associate, companion, friend refer to a person with whom one is in contact. An acquaintance is someone recognized by sight or someone known, though not intimately: a casual acquaintance. An associate is a person who is often in one's company, usually because of some work, enterprise, or pursuit in common: a business associate. A companion is a person who shares one's activities, fate, or condition: a traveling companion; companion in despair. A friend is a person with whom one is on intimate terms and for whom one feels a warm affection: a trusted friend.

Example Sentences

Josh Finan, who has starred in Baby Reindeer, The Responder and recently played Gerry Adams in Say Nothing, plays an acquaintance of Cameron who becomes unwittingly embroiled in his companion's distorted sense of reality.

From BBC

It’s a feature I would have loved to have had during the worst days of the pandemic, when friends and acquaintances where looking for simple ways to share our “Animal Crossing” creations.

From Los Angeles Times

Law enforcement officials have found a body in Oxnard that matches the description of a 13-year-old boy who failed to return home after visiting an acquaintance in Lancaster, authorities said.

From Los Angeles Times

Morgan was impatient with acquaintances who wished to compress all these considerations into a single all-purpose maxim.

From Los Angeles Times

Some had never met Wall, while others only knew her as a passing acquaintance.

From BBC

Related Words

• associate
• colleague
• companion
• friend
• neighbor