nonexistent
Britishadjective
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not having being or existence
-
not present under specified conditions or in a specified place
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Explanation
Something that's nonexistent doesn't really exist. When your cat hisses at her reflection in the mirror, she's attacking a nonexistent enemy. The adjective nonexistent describes something that's not real. Your nonexistent problems are only in your imagination, for example, and you may pretend to answer a nonexistent phone call to avoid an awkward conversation with an acquaintance at the post office. The word existent is at the heart of nonexistent, with its root of existence. They all come from the Latin word exsistere, "to come into being, to appear, or to be."
Vocabulary lists containing nonexistent
Zilch, Zip, Nada: Words For Nothing
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Nobody's Home: Synonyms For "Absent"
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The Phantom Tollbooth
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And at many schools, student activism is virtually nonexistent.
From Salon • May 28, 2026
When prebiotic soda Poppi jokingly teased a nonexistent “Amaya Papaya” beverage, using the nickname of Amaya Espinal, last year’s winning contestant and fan favorite, ITV sent the Pepsi-owned brand a cease-and-desist letter.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
The findings showed that the impact of anti-amyloid drugs on memory decline and dementia severity was either nonexistent or extremely small.
From Science Daily • May 4, 2026
Yet enforcement of firearm relinquishment remains at best inconsistent and at worst nonexistent.
From Slate • Apr. 25, 2026
She thought about the nonexistent intruder at school.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
