NONENTITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nonentity mean? 

• NONENTITY (noun)
  The noun NONENTITY has 2 senses:

1. the state of not existing

2. a person of no influence

  Familiarity information: NONENTITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NONENTITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of not existing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

nonentity; nonexistence

Hypernyms ("nonentity" is a kind of...):

nonbeing (the state of not being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nonentity"):

irreality; unreality (the state of being insubstantial or imaginary; not existing objectively or in fact)

nihility; nothingness; nullity; void (the state of nonexistence)

impossibility; impossibleness (incapability of existing or occurring)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person of no influence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

cipher; cypher; nobody; nonentity

Hypernyms ("nonentity" is a kind of...):

common man; common person; commoner (a person who holds no title)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nonentity"):

pip-squeak; small fry; squirt (someone who is small and insignificant)

jackanapes; lightweight; whippersnapper (someone who is unimportant but cheeky and presumptuous)

 Context examples 

Men, intelligent men, and not the gibbering nonentities I found you consorting with in that trader's den.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

She was a nonentity.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)