unfamiliar

U1N1F4A1M3I1L1I1A1R1
/ˌʌnfəˈmɪli.ə(ɹ)/

adjective

Strange, not familiar.

Similar
strangeunknownunacquaintedunacquainted withunfamiliar with
Opposite
familiar
OriginEnglish familiar ← Middle English un- ← Old English un- →
Less commonScrabble 15
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Meanings

adjectiveunfamiliar (comparative more unfamiliar, superlative most unfamiliar)

comparative more unfamiliar · superlative most unfamiliar

  1. Strange, not familiar.

    United were second-best for long periods as they struggled to adapt to an unfamiliar line-up and were ultimately fortunate to leave Merseyside with their unbeaten league run still intact.

    2011 October 15, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport
noununfamiliar (plural unfamiliars)

plural unfamiliars

  1. An unfamiliar person; a stranger.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivenot known or well known

Similar
strangeunknownunacquaintedunacquainted withunfamiliar with
Opposite
familiar
Also see
newobscurestrangeunacquaintedunknown

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishfamiliar
  9. Englishunfamiliar

From un- + familiar.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic غَيْر مَأْلُوف
  • غَيْر مَأْلُوف (ḡayr maʔlūf)not familiar
Bulgarian непознат
  • непознат (nepoznat)not familiar
Chinese Mandarin 陌生
  • 陌生 (mòshēng)not familiar
Danish uvant, ukendt
  • uvantnot familiar
  • ukendtnot familiar
Esperanto malfamiliara
  • malfamiliaranot familiar
Finnish vieras
  • vierasnot familiar
French inconnu
  • inconnunot familiar
German unbekannt, unvertraut
  • unbekanntnot familiar
  • unvertrautnot familiar
Greek άγνωστος, ασυνήθης
  • άγνωστος (ágnostos)not familiar
  • ασυνήθης (asyníthis)not familiar
Irish aduain, coimhthíoch
  • aduainnot familiar
  • coimhthíochnot familiar
Japanese 知られていない
  • 知られていない (shirarete inai)not familiar
Latin aliēnus
  • aliēnusnot familiar
Latvian svešs, svešāds
  • svešsnot familiar
  • svešādsnot familiar
  • neparastsnot familiar
Norwegian Bokmål uvant, ukjent
  • uvantnot familiar
  • ukjentnot familiar
Polish nieznany
  • nieznanynot familiar
Russian незнако́мый
  • незнако́мый (neznakómyj)not familiar
Spanish no / poco familiar
  • no / poco familiarnot familiar
Swedish obekant
  • obekantnot familiar
Cite this entry
APA

unfamiliar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfamiliar

MLA

“unfamiliar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfamiliar. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unfamiliar,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfamiliar.

Source: unfamiliar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.