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unfamiliar

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Not known to you because you have not experienced it before.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhnfuhmilyer

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ənfəˈmɪljɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An unfamiliar person; a stranger.

adjective

  1. Strange, not familiar.

Understand the Word

How this word is built, and what each part adds.

un- + familiarunfamiliar

Unfamiliar describes something you have not met, seen or learned before.

un-
not, or without
familiar
already well known to you

Prefix function , Not — expresses absence of the quality

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

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More ways to use unfamiliar

  • “A name unfamiliar to most.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

unfamiliar wordunfamiliar territoryunfamiliar environmentunfamiliar surroundingsunfamiliar termsunfamiliar languageunfamiliar worldunfamiliar place

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: strange or not familiar

strangeArchaic

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.