Sometimes it's difficult to welcome a distant cousin who we've never heard of before, even though our mother remembers him perfectly.

distant 是形容词，由名词 distance（距离）加上后缀 -ant 构成，表示"遥远的、疏远的"。 cousin 指"堂兄弟姐妹、表兄弟姐妹"，在英语中不分父系或母系，也不分性别。 distant cousin 指"远房表亲"，即血缘关系较远的堂表兄弟姐妹。