nonlinear
adjective
non·lin·e·ar
ˌnän-ˈli-nē-ər 
: not linear
nonlinear thinking
a nonlinear narrative
… I was already interested in the nonlinear manner in which ideas and fashions travel through our culture …—
Lyall Watson
Lyall Watson
nonlinearly
adverb
Examples of nonlinear in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Traditionally, stronger nonlinear effects have required progressively more powerful lasers.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 31 May 2026
Although McLuhan often changed subjects abruptly and wrote in a nonlinear style in which the full meaning of his pronouncements emerged only through a broader reading of his work, his overall argument was clear.
—Brian A. Cogan, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 May 2026
This process may have influenced the development of future generations in a nonlinear way.
—Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
Beyond matrix multiplication operations, machine learning models perform other types of math, like nonlinear layers, normalization, the softmax function, and more.
—Olivia Hsu, IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nonlinear
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Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 31 May 2026
Although McLuhan often changed subjects abruptly and wrote in a nonlinear style in which the full meaning of his pronouncements emerged only through a broader reading of his work, his overall argument was clear.
—Brian A. Cogan, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 May 2026
This process may have influenced the development of future generations in a nonlinear way.
—Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
Beyond matrix multiplication operations, machine learning models perform other types of math, like nonlinear layers, normalization, the softmax function, and more.
—Olivia Hsu, IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nonlinear
Cite this Entry
“Nonlinear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonlinear. Accessed 1 Jun. 2026.
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