NPC

abbreviation or noun

ˌen-ˌpē-ˈsē

plural NPCs

: a character in a video game that does not represent and cannot be manipulated by a player

NPCs can be programmed to detect and react to what is happening in the game …—

Robin Johnson

The pigeon barista served coffee to players and NPCs at The Roost Café in previous Animal Crossing installments …—

Elise Nelson

Believe me, as someone who has been paralyzed by a mob of angry zombies, it leads to an authentic feeling of … relief and gratitude when your NPC teammate saves you from a gruesome fate.—

Scott Rigby and Richard M. Ryan

called also non-player character

compare avatar sense 1

: a character in a role-playing board game, card game, or live-action game that is controlled or performed by an organizer, facilitator, or supporting participant

… the Dungeon Master exists to keep the world moving for the players. This usually entails rolling all the dice for the NPCs …—

Timothy Christopher

… when I first encountered [Dungeons & Dragons] I only played it once, with my mother and younger brother. … I clearly remember her inability to role-play the healing cleric NPC …—

Esther MacCallum-Stewart

At the Hudson Park Library show, we spoke with the people who played the NPCs. … Both of them first experienced the show as players in past productions, but volunteered to play NPC roles.—

Charles Battersby

called also non-player character

Examples of NPC in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Hong Kong's downdraft this week exposed the fragility of China's recent bull market, as investors await more stimulus and consumer support confirmations from the National People's Congress (NPC), which is expected to convene in the coming weeks. —

Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024 No further request was made to Paris 2024 by the Iranian NPC, but the two extensions were not sufficient. —

Ben Morse, CNN, 3 Sep. 2024 Yes, the movie version of Tiny Tina isn’t just a plucky NPC on the sidelines, and has been reworked as the daughter of the antagonist to use as a MacGuffin. —

Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2024 To invoke that nostalgia for the golden age of coin-op games, Tekken 8 has a single-player mode called Arcade Quest where players can create avatars and compete against NPC rivals across virtual arcades. —

George Yang, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for NPC

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