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

The term is most often used to refer to non-native plants that threaten the ecosystems of natural areas by outcompeting with native plants. — Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 1 Aug. 2026

And the collective’s street art, films and installations have used the concept of non-native species to explore how modern human society interacts with nature and animals. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 31 July 2026

Although the Medfly quarantine has ended, there is still a threat of new infestations by non-native species, such as invasive fruit flies. — Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 24 July 2026

The non-native species is harmless to humans and has been spotted in Idaho for at least 30 years, though scientists still know little about how the creatures move between bodies of water. — Idaho Statesman, 22 July 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