persona non grata

[ per-soh-nah nohn grah-tah; English per-soh-nuhnon grah-tuh, grey-, grat-uh ]
See synonyms for persona non grata on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural per·so·nae non gra·tae [per-soh-nahy nohn grah-tahy; English per-soh-nee non grah-tee, grey-, grat-ee]. /pɛrˈsoʊ naɪ noʊn ˈgrɑ taɪ; English pərˈsoʊ ni nɒn ˈgrɑ ti, ˈgreɪ-, ˈgræt i/. Latin.
  1. a person who is not welcome: He has become persona non grata in our club since his angry outburst.

  2. a diplomatic representative unacceptable to an accrediting government.

Origin of persona non grata

1
First recorded in 1885–90

Words Nearby persona non grata

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use persona non grata in a sentence

  • To make my position more intolerable, I am persona non grata with both sides.

  • Burleigh was evidently persona non grata in the eyes of both.

    Warrior Gap | Charles King
  • I may have been persona non grata, but, if so, she did not express her feeling.

    Birds of the Rockies | Leander Sylvester Keyser
  • Seeing that I would henceforth be persona non grata at the palace, I sought obscurity in the writing and publication of books.

  • The grocer, who in being taxed aids in paying the officer's salary, is persona non grata.

British Dictionary definitions for persona non grata

persona non grata

/ Latin (pɜːˈsəʊnə nɒn ˈɡrɑːtə) /


nounplural personae non gratae (pɜːˈsəʊniː nɒn ˈɡrɑːtiː)
  1. an unacceptable or unwelcome person

  2. a diplomatic or consular officer who is not acceptable to the government or sovereign to whom he or she is accredited

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for persona non grata

persona non grata

[ (puhr-soh-nuh non grah-tuh, grat-tuh) ]


A person who is no longer favored or welcome: “After my angry words with the manager, I am persona non grata at the video store.” From Latin, meaning “an unacceptable person.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.