stranger

Definitions

stranger keeps the root's oldest, most literal sense: 'one from outside.' It is built on strange in its 'foreign/unfamiliar' meaning, not its 'weird' meaning — so a stranger is not 'a weird person' but 'an outsider, someone you don't know.' That's why 'I'm a stranger here' means 'I'm new and don't know this place.'

Why It Means This

Watch out for the false friend trap: stranger is NOT the comparative of strange in meaning. 'He is a stranger' means 'I don't know him,' while 'It is stranger' (comparative) means 'It is more odd.' The noun froze onto the early 'outsider' sense centuries ago and never followed the adjective into 'weird.'

Common Collocations

• 1.complete stranger完全陌生的人
• 2.perfect stranger素不相识的人
• 3.stranger danger陌生人危险意识
• 4.no stranger to对……不陌生
• 5.total stranger全然陌生的人

Example Sentences

• 1.

  A complete stranger came up and offered to help me.

• 2.

  Parents warn their children not to talk to strangers.

• 3.

  I'm a stranger here myself, so I can't give you directions.

• 4.

  She's no stranger to hard work.

Easily Confused

stranger (noun) vs stranger (comparative adjective) — same spelling, different jobs. The noun = 'someone you don't know' (A stranger knocked on the door). The comparative = 'more strange' (Truth is stranger than fiction). Tell them apart by grammar: after 'a/the' or as a subject → noun; after 'is/than' describing oddness → comparative.

Synonym Comparison