nonentity
Americannoun
-
a person or thing of no importance.
- Synonyms:
- nullity, zero, mediocrity, cipher, nobody
-
something that does not exist or exists only in imagination.
noun
-
an insignificant person or thing
-
a nonexistent thing
-
the state of not existing; nonexistence
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nonentity
Explanation
The noun nonentity refers to a person of no significance or importance. If you are a member of a sports team, but spend all your time sitting on the bench watching the rest of the team play, you will probably feel like a nonentity. Something that is an entity exists, and if you are considered a nonentity, you might as well not exist. A political nonentity has no power, and a social nonentity blends in with the wallpaper. Not only people are considered nonentities; groups or things can be nonentities too. If a nonentity beats a nationally ranked team, that's a real upset. The cereal brand that stays on the shelf and is ignored can also be considered a nonentity in the cereal market.
Vocabulary lists containing nonentity
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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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.
See Examples For:
Efforts to make it appear that one of the world’s wickedest men would be in thrall to this milky, recessive nonentity are laughable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
The follow-up on the red carpet was just as much of a nonentity, asking Garner what fans should know about the Silver Surfer.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2025
In the primary’s final days, New Hampshire Democrats who are supporting Mr. Biden engaged in a bit of self-congratulation while dismissing Mr. Phillips as a nonentity.
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
A few days ago he called the Kremlin leader "a nonentity" and "a cowardly waste of space", says BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2023
He also wasn’t supposed to let me, a nonentity on loan from JV, fill in for him.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
He’s always been good at inhabiting emotional and psychological nonentities, whether as a replicant in “Blade Runner 2049” or as a man scarcely more lifelike than his blow-up doll in “Lars and the Real Girl.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2022
The velocity at which running backs go from the country’s biggest athletic stars to nonentities can be jarring.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2021
Virtually all of these supposed terrorists turned out to be nonentities — “ghost leads,” as they were called.
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2021
Somebody asks Pence a question and he responds like they are nonentities.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2020
The Masters of colleges are really almost nonentities, but have an absurd idea of their own dignity.
From Story of My Life, volumes 1-3 by Hare, Augustus J. C.
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.
