non-Western

adjective

non-West·​ern ˌnän-ˈwe-stərn 

1

: not being part of the western tradition

non-Western countries

2

: of or relating to non-Western societies

non-Western values

Examples of non-Western in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Officials in Tehran cheered images of Iran’s delegation being enthusiastically received by member states at the September meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the non-Western BRICS consortium. — Narges Bajoghli, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026

Especially exciting to him was the German student movement, which combined support for liberation across the non-Western world with attacks on what the students considered the suffocating (and still insufficiently de-Nazified) Federal Republic. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2026

The annual event gathers the heads of Russia, India and other non-Western nations. — Evelyn Cheng,priyanka Salve, CNBC, 31 Aug. 2026

For many Muslim reformers, Japan represented a non-Western model of modernity. — Mimi Hanaoka, The Conversation, 11 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1902, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for non-Western

• northwestern
• southwestern
• western

Kids Definition

non-Western

adjective

non-West·​ern

(ˈ)nän-ˈwes-tərn

1

: not being part of the western tradition

non-Western countries

2

: of or relating to non-Western societies

non-Western values