stranger

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒɚ/ UK /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #2326

Meanings

1

noun
A person you do not know.

My parents told me never to talk to strangers.
2

noun
Someone who is new to a place or does not belong there.

As a stranger in the city, she often got lost.
3

adj
Comparative of strange: more strange.

Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · someone who is new to a... newcomer

More beginner

Opposites

acquaintance compatriot countryman friend national resident

Word family

Forms strangers

Derived forms cyberstrangernonstrangerstrangerdomstrangeressstrangerhoodstrangerlikestrangerlystrangershipstrangerwise

Related forms myall

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

suspicious stranger
an unfamiliar person whose behavior causes concern or mistrust

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English straunger, from Old French estrangier (“foreign, alien”), from estrange, from Latin extraneus (“foreign, external”) (whence also English estrange), from extra (“outside of”). Cognate with French étranger (“foreigner, stranger”) and Spanish extranjero (“foreigner”). Displaced native Old English fremde (literally “strange or unfamiliar person”).

straunger Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# stranger

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 2326

## Meanings
1. A person you do not know.
2. Someone who is new to a place or does not belong there.
3. Comparative of strange: more strange.

## Examples
- My parents told me never to talk to strangers.
- As a stranger in the city, she often got lost.
- Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

## Synonyms
- beginner
- newcomer

## Antonyms
- acquaintance
- compatriot
- countryman
- friend
- national
- resident

## Derived Forms
- cyberstranger
- nonstranger
- strangerdom
- strangeress
- strangerhood
- strangerlike
- strangerly
- strangership
- strangerwise

## Related Forms
- myall

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: straunger

## Etymology
From Middle English straunger, from Old French estrangier (“foreign, alien”), from estrange, from Latin extraneus (“foreign, external”) (whence also English estrange), from extra (“outside of”). Cognate with French étranger (“foreigner, stranger”) and Spanish extranjero (“foreigner”). Displaced native Old English fremde (literally “strange or unfamiliar person”).

## AI Etymology
Stranger is from Middle English straunger, from Old French estrangier (“foreign, alien”), from estrange, from Latin extraneus (“foreign, external”) (whence also English estrange), from extra (“outside of”). Cognate with French étranger (“foreigner, stranger”) and Spanish extranjero (“foreigner”). Displaced native Old English fremde (literally “strange or unfamiliar person”). In present-day use, it can mean a person you do not know, or someone who is new to a place or does not belong there.

## Topics
- People & Society

markdown