familiarity
Good knowledge of something because you have seen or used it many times.
Close knowledge or understanding of something, usually gained through repeated experience or use.
A friendly and easy feeling between people who know each other well.
A close, friendly, and relaxed relationship between people, often developed over time.
Acting too friendly or too close in a way that does not show enough respect.
Behavior that is too friendly, informal, or bold for the situation, and is therefore seen as lacking respect or proper distance.
- Base: familiarity
- Plural: familiarities, familiarity
a passing familiarity with
1only slight knowledge of something
Used to say that someone knows a little about something, but not very much.
- I only have a passing familiarity with Chinese history.
- The course assumes a passing familiarity with basic statistics.
- She has a passing familiarity with the software but will need training.
familiarity breeds contempt
1too much closeness lowers respect
If you know someone or something too well, you may start to respect or like them less.
- He warned that familiarity breeds contempt, so managers should keep some professional distance.
- After living together for years, they began to feel that familiarity breeds contempt.
- The saying 'familiarity breeds contempt' suggests that people may stop valuing what they see every day.
familiarity with
1having experience-based knowledge of something
Used to talk about how well someone knows or understands something from using it or seeing it many times.
- The job requires familiarity with basic programming concepts.
- Her familiarity with local laws helped the company avoid problems.
- I have little familiarity with medical terms.