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
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.
Asked what her union's relationship is with the governor's office, Thomas had a one-word answer: "Nonexistent."
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2020
None of the Nonexistent Nine got injured on Friday night.
From Washington Post • Aug. 19, 2016
Revival chances: Nonexistent, though fans of Sorkin did get to see him return to the behind-the-TV-curtain conceit again, with the short-lived "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and the longer-lived "The Newsroom."
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 24, 2015
Nonexistent organ music pealed through the neighborhood on a Sunday morning.
From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2013
Nonexistent objects are seen, touched, tasted, heard, or smelled.
From Applied Psychology for Nurses by Porter, Mary F.
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.
