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non sequitur

[non sek-wi-ter, -too r; Latin nohn se-kwi-too r]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR non sequitur ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Logic. an inference or a conclusion that does not follow from the premises.
a statement containing an illogical conclusion.

Origin of non sequitur

< Latin: it does not follow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for non sequitur

falsehood, deception, misinterpretation, untruth, heresy, paradox, inconsistency, cavil, perversion, delusion, miscalculation, bias, casuistry, artifice, evasion, aberration, ambiguity, prejudice, deviation, flaw

Examples from the Web for non sequitur

Contemporary Examples of non sequitur

Historical Examples of non sequitur

  • By parity of non-sequitur, we are, therefore, to surrender the active is building.

    The Verbalist

    Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)

  • In the first place, the concluding sentence of the quotation is a non-sequitur.

    Social Value

    B. M. Anderson

  • Gallatins countenance brightened, and he said in a tone of perfect good humor, Thats a non-sequitur.

  • Gallatin's face brightened, and he said in a tone of perfect good-humor, 'That's a non-sequitur.'

  • Was not that a rather desperate effort to sustain an argument by a non-sequitur?

British Dictionary definitions for non sequitur

non sequitur

noun

a statement having little or no relevance to what preceded it
logic a conclusion that does not follow from the premises
Abbreviation: non seq

Word Origin for non sequitur

Latin, literally: it does not follow
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
Word Origin and History for non sequitur

Latin, literally "it does not follow."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
non sequitur in Culture

non sequitur

[(non sek-wuh-tuhr)]

A thought that does not logically follow what has just been said: “We had been discussing plumbing, so her remark about astrology was a real non sequitur.” Non sequitur is Latin for “It does not follow.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.