nonstarter
Americannoun
noun
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a horse that fails to run in a race for which it has been entered
-
a person or thing that is useless, has little chance of success, etc
Etymology
Origin of nonstarter
First recorded in 1905–10
Explanation
Someone who's a nonstarter never seems to succeed or achieve their goals. A baseball player who strikes out every single time he's up at bat is a nonstarter. A political candidate who loses every election is a nonstarter, and an entrepreneur whose businesses keep failing is also a nonstarter. You can also use this word to describe a plan or idea that's just never going to work: "I can see why you'd want to bring your pony to school, but I think it's a nonstarter." The original meaning of nonstarter was a horse unable to run in a race at the last minute.
Vocabulary lists containing nonstarter
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: non-
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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.
Hoisting the immense paperback edition of Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker” in bed was a nonstarter, so I was pleased to download it when the ebook at last became available in 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
So the idea that companies are all going to double their sales, doubling real GDP per capita, in short order, is a nonstarter.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 29, 2025
The case shows that smuggling its chips "is a nonstarter," an Nvidia spokesperson said.
From BBC • Aug. 6, 2025
Said Carroll: “I think that’s a conversation that won’t need to happen, because it won’t get to that point. A salary cap is a nonstarter from the union’s perspective.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 15, 2025
It never occurred to me that the bug-out would be a nonstarter.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
