nonplayer character
Americannoun
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a character in a tabletop role-playing game who is controlled by the Game Master.
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a character in a video game who executes scripted roles and is not controlled by the player. NPC
Etymology
Origin of nonplayer character
First recorded in 1990–95
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.
He danced like a nonplayer character, or NPC, in a computer game for 39 minutes at a town hall meeting the other night after taking a handful of questions.
From Salon • Oct. 17, 2024
Ryan Reynolds is a nonplayer character who realizes he lives inside a videogame in the convoluted corporate comedy “Free Guy.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 3, 2021
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.
