a person who refuses to conform, as to established customs, attitudes, or ideas.
(often initial capital letter) a Protestant in England who is not a member of the Church of England; dissenter.
First recorded in 1610–20; non- + conformist
A nonconformist is someone who doesn’t conform to other people’s ideas of how things should be. Activists, artists, street performers, your wacky uncle Marvin — anyone who marches to the beat of a different drummer is a nonconformist. Nonconformist is one of those words that has both a noun and an adjective form. The noun describes someone who acts apart from the masses, and the adjective describes people or other things that have those same nonconformist qualities. If your actions mark you as a nonconformist, chances are you'll take a nonconformist approach when it comes to planning your next vacation.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The prize was canceled, and Polari vowed to “increase the representation of trans and gender non-conforming judges on the panels.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
And they were needed, with one man disqualified for trying to smuggle a non-conforming conker in.
From Barron's • Oct. 17, 2025
After investigating, it concluded that at least 53 "non-conforming" parts had gone missing in the factory.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2025
It also says that “some use the term exclusively, while others may use it interchangeably with terms like genderqueer, genderfluid, gender non-conforming, gender diverse, or gender expansive.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2024
Refusing to acknowledge the Indulgence, he joined the ranks of the non-conforming ministers, and incited the inhabitants of the southern counties of Scotland to protest openly against the new edict.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 "Calhoun" to "Camoens" by Various
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.
