acquaintance Hear it!

acquaintance Definition

ac·quaint·ance (ə kwānt′'ns)

noun

  1. knowledge (of something) gotten from personal experience or study of it an intimate acquaintance with the plays of Jonson
  2. the state or relation of being acquainted (with someone)
  3. a person or persons whom one knows, but not intimately

acquaintance Related Forms
ac·quaint′·ance·ship′ noun
acquaintance Idioms

make someone's acquaintance

to become an acquaintance of someone

acquaintance Synonyms

acquaintance

n.

  1. The state of being acquainted

    association, companionship, relationship, knowledge; see friendship 1.

  2. A person with whom one is acquainted

    colleague, associate, bowing acquaintance, speaking acquaintance, escort, neighbor; see also associate, friend 1.

  3. Knowledge gained through personal experience or study

    familiarity, conversance, awareness; see awareness, experience 3.

acquaintance Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • mine: Among them was an acquaintance of mine, a Macedonian who has distinguished himself at certain foreign Universities.

Converse of object

  • renew: We all look forward to renewing acquaintances on July 18th in London " .
  • nod: These can display a mere nodding acquaintance with the English language.
  • scrape: That girl would scrape acquaintance with anybody; she had no reserve, none of the enamel of the lady.
  • pass: Some were best friends, others hardly even passing acquaintances.
  • make: How to network The first step of making a new business acquaintance, is of course, meeting them!
  • meet: Be sure to come: you may meet some old acquaintance.

Adjective modifier

  • auld: Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?
  • intimate: But she never spoke of any former and more intimate acquaintance with Mr Holbrook.
  • casual: He's not a casual acquaintance whom you barely know.
  • mutual: The job interview especially is a moment of mutual acquaintance.
  • renewed: After the World Games, John and Marion traveled to England and renewed old acquaintances with a number of BLDSA friends in Yorkshire.
  • slight: Nobody who has even the slightest passing acquaintance with modern science still asks that nonsensical old question about " nature versus nurture " .

Preposition: with

  • literature: There is evidence of a wide acquaintance with the literature.
  • language: No previous acquaintance with the Welsh language is assumed at the start of the courses.
  • history: Even a nodding acquaintance with North Korean history reveals just how important is the struggle for national pride.
  • text: Reading is wider than an acquaintance with core texts.
  • house: It was not an auspicious first acquaintance with the house.

Noun used with modifier

  • chance: A chance acquaintance, Nicholas Teape, went to Manchester College and became a Minister at Norwich.
  • business: A business acquaintance is going to be breaking into your social circle.
acquaintance Quotes

A woman can become a man's friend only in the following stagesöfirst an acquaintance, next a mistress, and only then a friend.

—Chekhov, Anton

I love good creditable acquaintance; I love to be the worst of the company.

—Swift,Jonathan

Sir, I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

[There is] an undercurrent of emotion bred of the deep acquaintance that can take a landscape and its inhabitantsto be a vocabulary, a set of wordlesssymbols effortlessly shared.

—Updike,John Hoyer

One eye was entirely gone, and the loss made one side of the face repulsive, while the other might have been modelled in marble.'Desperado' was written in large letters all over him. I almost repented of having sought his acquaintance.

—Bird, Isabella married name Isabella Bishop

Should auld acquaintance be forgot And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne!

—Burns, Robert