nonimmune

adjective

non·​im·​mune ˌnän-i-ˈmyün 

1

: not produced by, involved in, or relating to an immune response or the immune system

nonimmune cells

a nonimmune inflammatory response

2

: lacking immunity (as to a disease)

travelers who are nonimmune to local illnesses

Examples of nonimmune in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As the coronavirus has fewer and fewer nonimmune people to infect, though, immune evasion will become a more and more important constraint on its evolution. —Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2022

But until a vaccine was developed in 1963, some nonimmune adults died every year. —Monica Gandhi, WSJ, 30 Sep. 2021

These outbreaks will not be driven by SARS-CoV-2 mutation or virulence, but by the further exposure of nonimmune people to the virus. —Smithsonian Magazine, 5 June 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for nonimmune

• hyperimmune

Medical Definition

nonimmune

1 of 2 adjective

non·​im·​mune -im-ˈyün 

1

: not produced by, involved in, or relating to an immune response or the immune system

drug-induced nonimmune thromobocytopenia

nonimmune cells

a nonimmune inflammatory response

2

: not immune : lacking immunity

The disease now seems to recur in urban areas about every seven years, when numbers of nonimmune individuals that are sufficient to support an outbreak accumulate.

—Scientific American Medicine

nonimmune

2 of 2 noun

: an individual that lacks immunity to a particular disease