familiar stranger en · NOUN
Etymology
Coined by American social psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1972.
Meanings
-
(qualifier:social psychology) A stranger who is nonetheless recognized by another from regularly sharing a common physical space such as a street or bus stop, but with whom one does not interact.
The familiar stranger is someone we meet every morning at the bus stop or at the campus, but we have never talked with.
2018, Davide Spallazzo, Ilaria Mariani, Location-Based Mobile Games: Design Perspectives, Springer, →ISBN, page 39:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| familiar strangers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |