acquaintance
[noun]
Synonyms:
- associate, colleague, contact
- knowledge, awareness, experience, familiarity, fellowship, relationship, understanding

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Contrasted words: inexperience, unfamiliarity, greenness, verdancy, outsider, stranger
Related Words: apprehension, grasp, ken, appreciation, awareness, consciousness, associate, companion, comrade, crony

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English Thesaurus: friend, acquaintance, mate, buddy, pal, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

ac‧quaint‧ance /əˈkweɪntəns/ noun

1. SOMEBODY YOU KNOW [countable] someone you know, but who is not a close friend:
She was a casual acquaintance of my family in Vienna.
He heard about the job through a mutual acquaintance (=someone you and another person both know).

REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say someone I know rather than an acquaintance:
I got the job through someone I know.

2. RELATIONSHIP [singular, uncountable] a relationship with someone you know, but who is not a close friend:
They developed an acquaintance over the Internet.
You can’t judge her on such short acquaintance (=when you have not known her long).
My uncle did not improve on further acquaintance (=when you knew him better).

3. make sb’s acquaintance formal to meet someone for the first time:
I should be delighted to make Mrs McGough’s acquaintance.
At the hotel, I made the acquaintance of a young American actor.

4. KNOWLEDGE [uncountable] formal knowledge or experience of a particular subject
acquaintance with
The practice of a lawyer requires acquaintance with court procedures.
have a passing/nodding acquaintance with something (=have only slight knowledge or experience of something)
He has a passing acquaintance with a lot of different subjects.

5. of your acquaintance formal a person of your acquaintance is someone that you know:
The poems were written by various women of her acquaintance.

6. on first acquaintance formal when you meet someone for the first time:
Most people are nicer than you think on first acquaintance.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

acquaintance
noun
I. person you know
ADJ. casual I bumped into a casual acquaintance in town.
casual, new | close, old | business, mutual, personal, social
VERB + ACQUAINTANCE bump into, meet | greet (sb as) He was greeted as an old acquaintance.
PHRASES friends and acquaintances

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

acquaintance
II. knowledge of sb/sth
ADJ. nodding, passing, slight a man with whom I had a passing acquaintance
brief, short | close, intimate
VERB + ACQUAINTANCE make sb/sth's (= become acquainted with sb/sth) I first made his acquaintance in 1992.
strike up I first met Simon in 1998 and struck up an acquaintance with him.
renew
PREP. of sb's ~ He introduced me to a lady of his acquaintance.
~ with her acquaintance with modern French philosophy
PHRASES have an acquaintance with They have little acquaintance with colloquial English.
on close/closer acquaintance, on first acquaintance On first acquaintance she seemed a little odd

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

friend someone who you know and like very much and enjoy spending time with:
Dad, this is my friend Steve.
She’s going to Palm Springs with some friends.
I got a letter from a friend from college.
Amy’s a close friend of mine.
John was a really good friend to me when I had all those problems last year.
acquaintance /əˈkweɪntəns/ someone who you know and see sometimes, but who is not one of your close friends:
We borrowed the money from one of Paul’s business acquaintances.
mate British English informal a friend – used especially about boys or men:
He always goes to the pub with his mates on Friday night.
Terry’s an old mate of mine.
buddy American English informal a friend – used especially about men or young people:
He’s out playing basketball with some of his high school buddies.
pal informal a friend – pal sounds rather old-fashioned:
They met at school and have remained close pals.
crony [usually plural] disapproving a friend – used about powerful people who will help each other even if it is slightly dishonest:
He’s one of the President’s cronies.
companion written someone who spends time with you, doing the same things as you – used about animals as well as people:
travelling companions
His dog was his constant companion.
the perfect companion
the girls informal a woman’s female friends:
We’re having a girls’ night out.
the lads British English informal a man’s male friends:
a night out with the lads

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲