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
- nonexistence noun
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.
Three attorneys are facing discipline from the State Bar of California after allegations that they cited nonexistent legal decisions in submitted court documents that were written using artificial intelligence.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
And if small-caps are a tiny or nonexistent part of your stock allocation today, the next bear market could be an opportunity to fix that.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
EBRI’s estimates for people enrolled in privatized Medicare Advantage are significantly lower, because it assumes they will be able to take advantage of the program’s lower, or even nonexistent, premiums.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026
What if this iteration of “Wuthering Heights” exists precisely because it’s comforting to think the happiest ending is made possible by a nonexistent beginning?
From Salon • Feb. 21, 2026
“Right you—” Mr. Blake snarled at the nonexistent cherry knocker who wasn't cowering, terrified, on his doorstep or anywhere else.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
