non-fungible
Americanadjective
Explanation
In economics, when something is non-fungible, it can't be broken into units and interchanged for something else of the same value. Unlike money, things like antiques, cars, houses, and artwork are non-fungible. Non-fungible is frequently used in the term non-fungible token, or NFT, a kind of cryptocurrency. The difference between these and other digital payments is their uniqueness — they can't be substituted. Money is fungible because you can exchange a $20 bill for four fives. A car, however, is non-fungible: you can't borrow your friend's Honda and return a different Honda of the same value. Fungible is from the Latin fungi vice, "to take the place of."
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.
The video was sold as a non-fungible token, or NFT, for £500,000 in 2021.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2025
After cutting a lavish deal to license NFL players’ names, images and likenesses for non-fungible tokens in 2021, DraftKings recognized that the market for NFTs had evaporated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2024
But if someone simply says, “I’m launching an NFT,” you might refer to what you already know about non-fungible tokens and be more likely to say, “No, thanks, I’m good.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2023
CIC Digital LLC, the company that owned the digital trading card NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, was valued at somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million, according to the report.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 14, 2023
Richard Galvin of crypto fund Digital Asset Capital Management, for instance, cited software upgrades that have enabled a new breed of non-fungible tokens on bitcoin.
From Reuters ● Mar. 22, 2023
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.
