unfamiliar
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.not known or recognized because you have not seen or experienced it before.
adj.not known or recognized; lacking the quality of being familiar through previous encounter or experience.
Simple“The city felt scary at first because all the streets were unfamiliar to me.”
In context“Walking through the dense fog, he found himself in an unfamiliar neighborhood where even the architecture seemed alien and unsettling.”
UsageOften followed by the preposition 'to'.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.not knowing much about a particular subject or how to do something.
adj.not having knowledge or experience of a specific subject, system, or practice.
Simple“I am unfamiliar with this computer program, so I might need some help.”
In context“The new manager was largely unfamiliar with the technical nuances of the project, necessitating a comprehensive briefing from the engineering team.”
UsageUsually followed by the preposition 'with'.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a person that you do not know.
n.a person with whom one is not acquainted. This nominal use is significantly less common than the adjectival form.
Simple“The dog barked loudly at the unfamiliar standing at the gate.”
In context“In the quiet village, the arrival of an unfamiliar was always met with a mixture of curiosity and guarded silence.”
Teacher's tipThis noun sense is rare in modern speech; students should use 'stranger' in almost all contexts.
Antonyms
“Coe said the idea was “not as unfamiliar territory as people tend to think”.”
“The appeal of the Jonas Brothers, and in this case only one of them, was unfamiliar territory.”
From un- + familiar.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.