nonconformity
Americannoun
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failure or refusal to conform, as with established customs, attitudes, or ideas.
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lack of conformity or agreement.
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(often initial capital letter) refusal to conform to the Church of England.
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Geology. an unconformity that separates crystalline rocks, either igneous or metamorphic, from sedimentary rocks.
noun
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failure or refusal to conform
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absence of agreement or harmony
Etymology
Origin of nonconformity
First recorded in 1610–20; non- + conformity
Explanation
If a fireman came to work in a police outfit or clown suit, that would be a clear case of nonconformity. Where there's nonconformity, there's difference. When everyone is acting or dressing exactly the same, there's conformity, not nonconformity. Nonconformity means that someone is doing things differently from the norm. People in authority tend to dislike nonconformity, because it makes people harder to control. Someone who demonstrates nonconformity most of the time is a nonconformist. Too much nonconformity can create chaos, but without a little nonconformity, life would be pretty boring.
Vocabulary lists containing nonconformity
100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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Selection Vocabulary 3, Unit 1
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This Week In Culture, July 18–24, 2020
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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.
What do you make of the scene from “Encounters at the End of the World” going viral, with people using the image of a penguin walking away from its colony as a symbol of nonconformity?
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026
He was only a few months into his job as a custody deputy at the downtown jail in 2009 when he learned the price of nonconformity.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 14, 2025
His fictional character, a hyperactive, bow-tied man-child, provided subversive messages about nonconformity in films such as “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and his classic Saturday morning TV show, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2025
Both silly and subversive and championing nonconformity, the Pee-wee universe was a trippy place, populated by things such as a talking armchair and a friendly pterodactyl.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 31, 2023
It’s based on the concepts of Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” and it’s about how The Taker cured his loneliness at his old school through nonconformity and inconsistency.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
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.
