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

While Angelenos are using water rebates to replace turf with native grasses, expansive non-native lawns blanket the Lucas. — Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

State and federal laws ban nearly all sale of wild game in the US, but federal rules allow USDA inspection and then sale of some non-native species, including axis deer. — Tovar Cerulli, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026

Understanding Scorpions The two most common scorpion species found in the Southeast are the Southern devil scorpion and the striped bark scorpion, which is a non-native species. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 27 Oct. 2026

In August, the National Park Service removed 77 invasive trees, according to court records, which means non-native species that can spread aggressively and harm native ecosystems, along with 73 trees that were either dead, dying or hazardous. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for non-native

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