nonperson

American  

[non-pur-suhn] / nɒnˈpɜr sən /

noun

1. someone whose existence or presence is not recognized.

2. someone whose existence is denied or ignored by a government, political party, or the like, often as a punishment for disloyalty or dissent and sometimes resulting in the loss of personal liberty; unperson.

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nonperson Cultural  

1. A former political leader whom a government wants the people to ignore, because the former leader's views or actions are considered unacceptable by the current government. This unusual practice is most commonly used in totalitarian states (see totalitarianism), where past leaders often disappear from the official histories of one regime and reappear in the histories of another. The creation of nonpersons was particularly striking in the former Soviet Union, where leaders such as Trotsky and Khrushchev became nonpersons even while they were alive. (See rehabilitation.)

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Etymology

Origin of nonperson

First recorded in 1905–10; non- + person

Example Sentences

He soon was rendered a nonperson within the Soviet Union, as his successor Leonid Brezhnev assumed the leadership.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 10, 2022

The general requirement is that no “Person” may run for president if he is not at least 35 and is not a natural-born citizen, but it sets no limits whatsoever on a nonperson.

From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2019

After Cosby's sentencing yesterday, a cultural critic wrote for CNN that the "verdict has only accelerated the process of transforming Bill Cosby into a nonperson."

From Salon • Sep. 27, 2018

He became, in effect, a nonperson whose art was ignored by the press, apart for the occasional denunciation, and unrepresented in Soviet museums.

From New York Times • Jul. 12, 2017

Prut was a nonperson, seemed almost as invisible as the mythical Invisible God Himself, and would remain so until called upon to do whatever Master Rababull commanded of him.

From Si'Wren of the Patriarchs by Cheney, Roland Jon

Related Words

• expatriate
• fugitive
• refugee