nonstarter

[non-stahr-ter]

See more synonyms for nonstarter on Thesaurus.com

noun

an issue, plan, etc., that does not get or deserve to get under way.

Origin of nonstarter

First recorded in 1905–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for nonstarter

loser, disaster, dud, bust, debacle, fiasco, washout, failure, nonstarter, miscarriage, lemon, bomb

Examples from the Web for nonstarter

Contemporary Examples of nonstarter

This plan has the virtue of relative simplicity, but is considered a nonstarter with Republicans.
As the Sequester Looms, the Outlines of a Solution Emerge
John Avlon
February 24, 2013
End the tax-free status of employer health benefits: So many problems with this, I think we can all agree it's a nonstarter.
After the Fiscal Cliff: What do Democrats Want?
Megan McArdle
January 2, 2013
I know, at this point, that the first option is a nonstarter.
Who’s Skewed Now? Beaten GOP Wakes Up to the Real America
Andrew Romano
November 8, 2012
But Mitt Romney for president is a nonstarter, despite headquartering his campaign in the North End of Boston.
No Home-Field Advantage for Mitt Romney
John Avlon
June 13, 2012
Yet even before the document became public, Republicans called it a nonstarter and dead on arrival.
Obama’s 2013 Budget: Perfectly Reasonable, Absolutely Terrible
Daniel Stone
February 13, 2012

British Dictionary definitions for nonstarter

nonstarter

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012