familiarity

noun

fa·​mil·​iar·​i·​ty fə-ˌmi-lē-ˈ(y)er-ə-tē 

-ˈ(y)a-rə-;

-ˌmil-ˈyer-,

-ˌmil-ˈya-rə-

plural familiarities

1

a

: the quality or state of being familiar

b

: a state of close relationship : intimacy

2

a

: absence of ceremony : informality

b

: an unduly informal act or expression : impropriety

c

: a sexual liberty

3

: close acquaintance with something

Synonyms

• belonging
• chumminess
• closeness
• inseparability
• intimacy
• nearness

Examples of familiarity in a Sentence

He spoke to everyone with the easy familiarity of an old friend.

the elderly couple enjoys a familiarity that is the result of many years of happy marriage

Recent Examples on the Web

The questionnaire varied in topics, but one of the subjects was familiarity with a long list of celebrities whose names could come up at trial. —Caroline Blair, People.com, 16 May 2025

That experience and familiarity, combined with the driver-friendly setup, makes McIlroy one of the favorites to complete the first half of the calendar grand slam with a victory on Sunday. —Troy Finnegan‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 May 2025

Up until this point, some modicum of residual familiarity, related to the East Coast — not topography but scale — had remained with me. —Andrew Moore, New York Times, 15 May 2025

The familiarity becomes a feature rather than a bug on the windshield of the titular Plymouth muscle car that Holloway’s master getaway driver Jim Ellis uses to outrun all his problems. —Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 14 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for familiarity

• angularity
• bipolarity
• capillarity
• cellularity
• circularity
• granularity
• insincerity
• insularity
• modularity
• osmolarity
• popularity
• regularity

Kids Definition

familiarity

noun

fa·​mil·​iar·​i·​ty fə-ˌmil-ˈyar-ət-ē 

-ˌmil-ē-ˈar-

plural familiarities

1

: close friendship : intimacy

2

: lack of formality : freedom and ease in personal relations

3

: close acquaintance with or knowledge of something

4

: an overly bold act or expression