neurotypical
Americanadjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of neurotypical
Explanation
Neurotypical describes someone who isn't autistic and doesn't have any developmental disorders that affect their nervous system. The term neurotypical is a relatively new way to describe people who don't have conditions like ADHD, anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, or autism. It's much more accurate than simply using a word like "normal," since it acknowledges the enormous variation in the way human brains work. If you're neurotypical, you think, reason, and understand very differently from the way your autistic friend does. Neuro- means "pertaining to the nervous system," and typical means "common, average, or regular."
Vocabulary lists containing neurotypical
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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.
Autistic people are often stereotyped as unable to read other people, Morgan said, but neurotypical people often have just as hard a time accurately interpreting an autistic person’s emotional state.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025
Researchers studying three groups of people -- individuals with autism, those with fetal alcohol syndrome, and a "neurotypical" control group -- found that cognitive ability strongly influenced how well participants understood speech in noisy conditions.
From Science Daily • Oct. 29, 2025
"I just kept thinking about what my life would look like if I was neurotypical."
From Barron's • Oct. 24, 2025
In other words, we shouldn’t take RFK Jr.’s fearmongering at face value and adopt his seeming position that the average autistic person is highly disabled or somehow living a worse life than a neurotypical person.
From Slate • Sep. 25, 2025
The National Autistic Society defines masking as a strategy used to "consciously or unconsciously appear non-autistic", in an attempt to 'fit in' in a neurotypical society.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2025
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.
