Meaning & use

familiarity

noun·Academic

Close knowledge or experience of something, or a friendly closeness between people.

See it in a sentence

Her familiarity with the software made her the obvious choice to train new employees.

Years of working together had led to an easy familiarity between the two colleagues.

A note on using this word

Familiarity can carry a negative connotation, as in the saying familiarity breeds contempt, suggesting that too much closeness can reduce respect.

Words with a similar meaning

acquaintancecloseness

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

unfamiliarity

Make it your own

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