Qualities
Synonyms for foreign
Synonyms for foreign: alien, strange and extraneous. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.
The 3 synonyms for foreign
Interchangeable with foreign, one per sense
Audited under foreign's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one foreign carries in that sense.
- alienadjective, in the sense "not contained in or deriving from the essential nature of something"
- strangeadjective, in the sense "relating to or originating in or characteristic of another place or part of the world"
Recorded from the other side of the pair
These entries were written under the other word and name foreign as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.
- extraneousextraneous is an adjective in the sense "not belonging to that in which it is contained"
Two directions, one standard: two audited under foreign and one under the partner word. Nothing here was expanded out of a thesaurus.
not contained in or deriving from the essential nature of something
The mysticism so foreign to the French mind and temper.
foreign in 2 more sentences, same sense
- Such harsh criticism felt foreign to her usually gentle way of teaching.
- The aggressive sales tactics were foreign to the firm's quiet, collegial culture.
How it behaves: In this sense foreign is almost always predicative, followed by "to" plus the person or thing whose nature it fails to match, in a formal or literary register.
The true synonym
alien
Same sentence, swapped: The mysticism so alien to the French mind and temper.
Close but different
These three are the other tiles for this sense. Each is a real word, and none of them can stand where foreign stands in the sentence above.
- objective
- overseas
- outward
Opposites, in this sense
native, inherent and intrinsic reverse foreign as it is used in the sentence above. A different sense of foreign takes different opposites, which is why these sit inside the sense and not at the top of the page.
- native
- inherent
- intrinsic
relating to or originating in or characteristic of another place or part of the world
On business in a foreign city.
foreign in 2 more sentences, same sense
- The company hired a consultant to help it navigate foreign markets before expanding overseas.
- She tucked a foreign coin into her pocket as a souvenir from the trip.
How it behaves: Foreign typically appears as an attributive adjective directly before a noun such as city, market, or country, and rarely stands alone after a linking verb like 'is'.
The true synonym
strange
Same sentence, swapped: On business in a strange city.
Close but different
The game offers these three alongside the answer. They are close enough to tempt and wrong enough to be wrong, which is the whole design.
- native
- objective
- outward
Opposites, in this sense
domestic and local reverse foreign as it is used in the sentence above. A different sense of foreign takes different opposites, which is why these sit inside the sense and not at the top of the page.
- domestic
- local
Where foreign turns up in the game
foreign is the word under test in two puzzles, spread across Tier 1, Foothills. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in two other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.
The puzzles where foreign is the trap
- strangeadjective, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is unknown, in the sense "not known before", and foreign is one of the three tiles that lose.
- strangeadjective, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is unusual, in the sense "being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected", and foreign is one of the three tiles that lose.
Play foreign
The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so foreign reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.
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Closest first: other qualities words at Foothills, then the same tier across the rest of the library.
Every word is an answer somewhere and a trap somewhere else
foreign is an answer in 2 puzzles and a wrong tile in 2. That is how the bank is built, and it is why guessing by vibe stops working around tier three.