strangers
strangers — noun
- strangerssingular
- strangersesplural
1. a person you have never met before, or someone who is not known to you personall
a person you have never met before, or someone who is not known to you personally
Maeve’s mother warned her never to accept sweets from strangers on the way home.
safety warning: accept/talk to strangers
The guard checked the ID of every stranger who tried to enter the building.
Hoa felt nervous when a stranger sat next to her on the night bus.
In a small town, people notice when a stranger walks into the local café.
The dog barked loudly at every stranger who passed by the front gate.
- unknown person
more formal and less common than 'stranger'
- new face
informal, used when a stranger joins a group of people who already know each other
- acquaintance
someone you know slightly
- friend
someone you know and like
文法句型
a stranger
strangers + verb
用法筆記
Often used in warnings aimed at children. Common collocates are 'complete' and 'total' when emphasising that the person is entirely unknown.
常見錯誤
❖ 'I saw a foreigner on the bus and asked his name.' ✅ 'I saw a stranger on the bus and asked his name.' — A foreigner is someone from another country; a stranger is someone you do not know, regardless of nationality.
2. a person finding themselves in a place or group they have never been part of bef
a person finding themselves in a place or group they have never been part of before, where they do not yet feel at home
When Mia arrived in Oslo, she felt like a stranger in an unfamiliar city.
feel like a stranger + in + [place]
As a stranger in Tokyo, Mateo used hand gestures and pointing to order food.
Amani was a stranger to her husband’s customs and had to learn them slowly.
After years abroad, Gabriela returned home to find she had become a stranger.
Adina was no stranger to hard work, having helped on the farm since childhood.
文法句型
feel like a stranger
be a stranger to [place/group]
be no stranger to [experience]
用法筆記
The fixed expression 'be no stranger to something' means you have had a lot of experience with something and does NOT carry a negative connotation by itself.
常見錯誤
❖ 'I am a stranger to eat Japanese food.' ✅ 'I am a stranger to Japanese food.' — 'a stranger to' takes a noun phrase, not a verb.
strangers — adjective
- strangerspositive
- more strangerscomparative
- most strangerssuperlative
1. belonging to a different country, culture, or origin; not native or known to the
belonging to a different country, culture, or origin; not native or known to the speaker
In an old tale, a stranger knight appeared at the gate wearing unusual armour.
archaic literary use: stranger + knight / land / tongue
The manuscript describes stranger lands where no explorer had ever set foot.
The king spoke in a stranger dialect that his own subjects could barely follow.
Medieval maps marked stranger territories with drawings of sea monsters.
- native
belonging to the place where one was born
文法句型
stranger + noun
用法筆記
This use of 'stranger' as an adjective is now archaic and found mainly in historical or literary texts. In modern English, 'foreign' or 'strange' is used instead.
strangers — verb
- strangerspresent simple I / you / we / they
- strangerses3rd person singular
- strangersing-ing form
- strangersedpast simple
1. to cause someone to feel separated or distant from someone they were previously
to cause someone to feel separated or distant from someone they were previously close to, so that the relationship breaks down or grows cold
The family feud strangered the two cousins for more than a decade.
archaic verb pattern: stranger + object + from
Jorge’s constant lies strangered him from his closest childhood friends.
archaic verb pattern: named subject + strangered + object + from + group
The queen’s harsh words strangered her from even her most loyal advisers.
The landlord Rashid’s greed strangered him from the village he had grown up in.
- reconcile
to bring people back together after a disagreement
文法句型
stranger + object + from + object
用法筆記
This verb form is obsolete in modern English. The standard present-day word with the same meaning is 'estrange'. You will only encounter the verb 'stranger' in very old texts.
常見錯誤
❖ 'The argument strangered them.' ✅ 'The argument estranged them.' — In modern English, use 'estrange' instead of the archaic 'stranger'.