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

Researchers say testing fungi from the state prevents the possibility of introducing non-native fungi to the state. —Cole Premo, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025

Clover White clover (Trifolium repens) is a low-growing, non-native, cool-season perennial. —Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 30 Nov. 2025

The collection, led by Scripps postdoctoral scholar Adi Khen and professor and marine ecologist Jennifer Smith, contains more than 300 different native and non-native seaweed species from around Southern California. —Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Nov. 2025

Several native and non-native types of hollies keep their glossy evergreen leaves year-round. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for non-native

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