non-native

adjective

non-na·​tive ˌnän-ˈnā-tiv 

variants or nonnative

: not native: such as

a

of a plant or animal : living or growing in a place that is not the location of its natural occurrence

a non-native fish species

… overgrazing causes grasslands to give way to sagebrush, mesquite and non-native exotic grasses, environmentalists contend.

—Doug McInnis

b

: not born or raised in the place where a particular language is spoken

non-native inhabitants

a nonnative speaker of English [=a person who speaks English but whose native language is not English]

non-native noun

or nonnative

plural non-natives or nonnatives

popular among both natives and non-natives

Synonyms of non-native

• foreign

Examples of non-native in a Sentence

nonnative customs that made the recent immigrants stand out in their new country

Recent Examples on the Web

The virtual hysteria over the muskrat invasion resulted in Britain’s first legislation to target a non-native invasive species. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 22 June 2026

The plant, which is non-native and is for ornamental purposes, is poisonous to horses. —Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 16 June 2026

Android Isn't Going Anywhere Unlike iOS, Google's Android presents more as a field of native plants and non-native ones that fit aesthetically. —Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 16 June 2026

These are a non-native species found in the Southeast, especially in coastal areas. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 15 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for non-native

• creative
• locative
• nonnative
• probative
• rotative
• accommodative
• accumulative
• adjudicative
• administrative
• affiliative
• agglutinative
• ameliorative