nonentity

American  

[non-en-ti-tee] / nɒnˈɛn tɪ ti /

noun

• nonentities
  plural

1. a person or thing of no importance.

   Synonyms:

   nullity, zero, mediocrity, cipher, nobody

2. something that does not exist or exists only in imagination.

3. nonexistence.

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nonentity British  

/ ˌnɒnˈɛntɪtɪ /

noun

1. an insignificant person or thing

2. a nonexistent thing

3. the state of not existing; nonexistence

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nonentities
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of nonentity

First recorded in 1590–1600; non- + entity

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nonentity nonentities

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

Shawn is played by out actor Rafael L. Silva, but the character’s sexuality is only noted in passing, and his relationship with his boyfriend is a nonentity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 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

Since I had applied for such a nonentity of a job, Quackenbush, who had known as little about me as I had about him, knew now.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

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

Autocratic leaders, as Joachim Fest writes, are often "demonic nonentities."

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2021

Her portrait subjects included both celebrities and nonentities, all swathed in the same luxe wrapping.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2017

For long years, however, it had been to us a mere deduction from our "doctrine," which all nonentities of all political denominations had mocked at.

From Our Revolution Essays on Working-Class and International Revolution, 1904-1917 by Leon Davidovich Trotzky

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Related Words

• cipher

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