non-American

adjective

non-Amer·​i·​can ˌnän-ə-ˈmer-ə-kən 

-ˈmər-, 

-ˈme-rə-

: not of or relating to America or the U.S. : not American

… his literary precursors … are mostly non-American.

—John Barth

non-American noun

… those things that non-Americans most immediately associate with America.

—Anthony Quinton

Examples of non-American in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The film is based on an original screenplay by late Croatian animator Dušan Vukotić, the first non-American to win an Academy Award for animation in 1962 with the short film The Substitute. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026

For the first time, in 2025, the demand for non-American, non-Western, non-English-language content exceeded 50 percent of the global revenue pie. —Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 Feb. 2026

Glover will become the first Black man, Kock the first woman and Hansen the first non-American to venture out to the moon. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2026

Koch is set to become the first woman to go to the moon, while Glover will become the first person of color to do so — and Hansen will be the first non-American to make the trip. —Brian Brant, PEOPLE, 30 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for non-American

• american