nonexistent

See also: non-existent

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From non- +‎ existent.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Adjective

nonexistent (not comparable)

  1. Not existent or existing; not real.
    Synonyms: inexistent; see also Thesaurus:inexistent
    "Hrunk" is a nonexistent word.
    His social skills are nonexistent: he chewed with his mouth open all through dinner.
    • 1994, William Martin Hunt, Decennial Census: 1995 Test Census Presents Opportunities to Evaluate New Census-Taking Methods, US General Accounting Office, page 4:
      In the 1995 Test Census, the Bureau plans to test the use of Postal Service letter carriers to identify vacant and nonexistent units when it mails census questionnaires.
    • 1996, Dale Jacquette, Meinongian Logic: The Semantics of Existence and Nonexistence, Walter de Gruyter, page 7:
      If there is anything of philosophical significance to be taken at face value in ordinary thought and language it is the reference and attribution of properties to existent and nonexistent objects.
    • 2015, Jonathan Gold, “Paving the Great Way: Vasubandhu's Unifying Buddhist Philosophy”, in Paperback, Columbia University Press, published 2016, page 275:
      Conversely, to return to the point at hand, nonexistent entities can be known, even by a Buddha, without being, thereby, substantial.
  2. Not present or occurring.
    • 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 111:
      Large cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.]
    • 2018 January 4, Janie Tankard Carnock, “Frigid Baltimore City schools: The racism we haven’t confronted”, in CNN‎[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 2 February 2026:
      The opposite issue emerges in the summer when students face scorching temperatures with unreliable or nonexistent air conditioning.

Translations

See also

Noun

nonexistent (plural nonexistents)

  1. Something that does not exist.
    • 2011, Carolyn Swanson, Reburial of Nonexistents, page 5:
      By showing that no true statements were about nonexistents, he dismissed any facts or knowledge about the so-called beingless.

Further reading

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