Meaning of foreign in English

foreign

adjective

/ˈfɒr.ən/ us

/ˈfɔːr.ən/

Add to word list Add to word list

belonging or connected to a country that is not your own:

foreign country Spain was the first foreign country she had visited.

foreign language Do you speak any foreign languages?

foreign travel His work provided him with the opportunity for a lot of foreign travel.

foreign to formal

Something can be described as foreign to a particular person if they do not know about it or it is not within their experience:

The whole concept of democracy, she claimed, was utterly foreign to the present government.

A foreign object or substance has entered something else, possibly by accident, and does not belong there:

foreign body

foreign object

foreign substance

foreign matter

More examplesFewer examples

As a leader, he's been criticized for his inexperience in foreign affairs.
He is trying to persuade local and foreign businesses to invest in the project.
The government wanted an inflow of foreign investment.
The foreign invaders were finally defeated by allied forces.
My grandfather has a profound mistrust of anything new or foreign.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Unknown and unfamiliar

See more results »

(Definition of foreign from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

foreign | American Dictionary

foreign

adjective [ not gradable ]

/ˈfɔr·ən, ˈfɑr-/

Add to word list Add to word list

belonging or connected to a country that is not your own or is not the one you are in:

a foreign country

a foreign language

(Definition of foreign from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

foreign | Business English

foreign

adjective

/ˈfɒrɪn/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

in or from a country that is not your own:

a foreign brand/company/firm The company represents some foreign brands as their agents or distributors.

foreign capital/debt/investment The country needs to attract foreign investment into manufacturing.

foreign competition/markets/trade

(Definition of foreign from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

What is the pronunciation of foreign?

Translations of foreign

in Chinese (Traditional)

外國的, 異質的, 外來的…

in Chinese (Simplified)

外国的, 异质的, 外来的…

in Spanish

extranjero, extraño, extranjero/era [masculine-feminine]…

in Portuguese

estrangeiro, exterior, estrangeiro/-ra…

in more languages

in Marathi

in Japanese

in Turkish

in French

in Catalan

in Dutch

in Tamil

in Hindi

in Gujarati

in Danish

in Swedish

in Malay

in German

in Norwegian

in Urdu

in Ukrainian

in Bengali

in Czech

in Indonesian

in Thai

in Vietnamese

in Polish

in Korean

in Italian

परदेशी, परका, आपल्या देशातील नसलेला…

外国の, 外国（がいこく）の, 外交（がいこう）の…

yabancı, yabancı ülkeyle ilişkin/ilgili, ecnebi…

étranger/-ère, étranger, étranger (à)…

estranger…

buitenlands, vreemd…

உங்களுக்கு சொந்தமில்லாத ஒரு நாட்டோடு சொந்தமானது அல்லது இணைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது, ஒரு வெளிநாட்டுப் பொருள் அல்லது பொருள் தற்செயலாக வேறு ஏதோவொன்றில் நுழைந்திருக்கலாம், அது அங்கே சேரவில்லை.…

विदेशी, (वस्तु या पदार्थ) बाहरी…

વિદેશી, પરદેશી, બાહ્ય…

udenlandsk, fremmed, ukendt…

utländsk, främmande för…

asing…

ausländisch, fremd…