nonstarter
noun
non·start·er
ˌnän-ˈstär-tər 
1
: one that does not start
2
: someone or something that is not productive or effective
his son has been, in politics a nonstarter—
Anthony Lejeune
Anthony LejeuneExamples of nonstarter in a Sentence
She's the leading scorer among the team's nonstarters.
Recent Examples on the Web
To get a feel for why the Senate’s bipartisan border proposal is a nonstarter for so many House Republicans, turn to a dissenting GOP senator.
—W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 31 Jan. 2024
But letting go of specialists is a nonstarter for many patients.
—Maria J Silveira, The Conversation, 1 Apr. 2024
So often, sales teams rely on product pitches that target general business issues that rarely resonate and are, frankly, nonstarters.
—Andrew Kahl, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
House Republicans passed a partisan bill known as H.R. 2 that includes nonstarters for Democrats like resuming border wall construction, gutting the asylum system, and restricting a president's parole authority.
—Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024
The phone sufficed in almost all those situations, though paying for dinner was more complicated and using a digital driver’s license to buy wine at a grocery store was a nonstarter.
—Yiwen Lu, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Each made works of great beauty, great surprise, great political and social consequence, as well as a share of failures and nonstarters.
—Martha Schwendener, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024
While there may be a group of House moderates ready to back the foreign aid bill, among many House conservatives, additional aid for Ukraine is a nonstarter.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 13 Feb. 2024
Others have proposed an international force composed mostly of troops from Arab states, but the potential Arab participants have declared that a nonstarter.
—Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 4 Jan. 2024
W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 31 Jan. 2024
But letting go of specialists is a nonstarter for many patients.
—Maria J Silveira, The Conversation, 1 Apr. 2024
So often, sales teams rely on product pitches that target general business issues that rarely resonate and are, frankly, nonstarters.
—Andrew Kahl, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
House Republicans passed a partisan bill known as H.R. 2 that includes nonstarters for Democrats like resuming border wall construction, gutting the asylum system, and restricting a president's parole authority.
—Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024
The phone sufficed in almost all those situations, though paying for dinner was more complicated and using a digital driver’s license to buy wine at a grocery store was a nonstarter.
—Yiwen Lu, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Each made works of great beauty, great surprise, great political and social consequence, as well as a share of failures and nonstarters.
—Martha Schwendener, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024
While there may be a group of House moderates ready to back the foreign aid bill, among many House conservatives, additional aid for Ukraine is a nonstarter.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 13 Feb. 2024
Others have proposed an international force composed mostly of troops from Arab states, but the potential Arab participants have declared that a nonstarter.
—Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 4 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nonstarter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near nonstarter
Cite this Entry
“Nonstarter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonstarter. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
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