nonconformist

[ non-kuhn-fawr-mist ]

/ ˌnɒn kənˈfɔr mɪst /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nonconformist ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

Nearby words

noncompliance, nonconcurrence, noncondensing engine, nonconductor, nonconformance, nonconformist, nonconformists, nonconformity, nonconjugative plasmid, noncontradiction, noncontrastive

Origin of nonconformist

First recorded in 1610–20; non- + conformist

SYNONYMS FOR nonconformist

1 dissenter, dissident, individualist, loner.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nonconformist ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for non-conformist

It becomes a non-conformist activity, reading becomes a risk.
The Politics of Literature: An interview with Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa|Michael Moynihan|October 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Non-conformist, Pilgrim New England, what she at first was and now is,—all that is involved and comprehended!
The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland:|Thomas W. Silloway
Now, thousands of Non-conformist chapels proclaim its meaning gone, and its language an affectation and an insolence.
Studies of Christianity|James Martineau
“Fault of any non-conformist country,” pleaded young Mr. Braid, finely assuming mortification.
Ladies and Gentlemen |Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb

With Emerson he might have agreed that "whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist."
Ivory Apes and Peacocks|James Huneker
Fairclough was a Non-Conformist, but not actively sympathetic with Presbyterianism.
A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718|Wallace Notestein

British Dictionary definitions for non-conformist (1 of 2)

nonconformist

/ (ˌnɒnkənˈfɔːmɪst) /

noun

a person who does not conform to generally accepted patterns of behaviour or thought

adjective

of or characterized by behaviour that does not conform to generally accepted patterns

Derived Forms

nonconformism, noun

British Dictionary definitions for non-conformist (2 of 2)

Nonconformist

/ (ˌnɒnkənˈfɔːmɪst) /

noun

a member of a Protestant denomination that dissents from an Established Church, esp the Church of England

adjective

of, relating to, or denoting Nonconformists

Derived Forms

Nonconformity or Nonconformism, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012