nondiscretionary

adjective

non·​dis·​cre·​tion·​ary ˌnän-dis-ˈkre-shə-ˌner-ē How to pronounce nondiscretionary (audio)
: not left to discretion or exercised at one's own discretion : not discretionary
nondiscretionary purchases such as food and housing
During the first half of the 1990s, Americans were forced to spend more for certain nondiscretionary items …Cheryl Russell

Examples of nondiscretionary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The proposal would boost the amount of nondiscretionary income for single borrowers to about $31,000, or 225% of the federal poverty threshold. Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 12 Jan. 2023 By increasing nondiscretionary income, discretionary income shrinks. Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 25 Aug. 2022 This was driven by an increase in discretionary purchasing—even as the index for nondiscretionary purchasing dipped. Telis Demos, WSJ, 12 Dec. 2021 The influx also provides $518 million of nondiscretionary funds to Alaska and $220 million for public health and safety, workforce development, education, transportation, and emergency management. Anchorage Daily News, 17 May 2021 Ninety percent of the nondiscretionary funds are required to go directly to school districts, or Local Education Agencies. Vivian Jones, Washington Examiner, 25 Feb. 2021 Their poor grasp of the discretionary and nondiscretionary comma is not their fault. Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 22 July 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nondiscretionary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nondiscretionary was in 1867

Dictionary Entries Near nondiscretionary

Cite this Entry

“Nondiscretionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nondiscretionary. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

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