nonexistent
Britishadjective
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not having being or existence
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not present under specified conditions or in a specified place
Other Word 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.
Starting in boyhood, an American designer and artist named Donald Evans created thousands of fictitious stamps from nonexistent countries, using a typewriter to punch out the perforations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
However, after my father passed away, that support has been inconsistent — sometimes substantial and other times essentially nonexistent, without much explanation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
The increase in the amount received each month may also end up being lower — or nonexistent — for people who get both Medicare and Social Security benefits.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
It isn’t that the stakes are low, or that conflict is nonexistent, but that the drama is driven by issues of connection, identity, love and longing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Gene stares off down the hall and gives an almost nonexistent nod.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
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.
