noncitizen

noun non·cit·i·zen \ ˌnän-ˈsi-tə-zən also -sən \

|Updated on: 17 Jul 2018

Definition of noncitizen

: a person who is not a citizen

the only noncitizen in town

—often used before another noun

noncitizen students

See noncitizen defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of noncitizen from the Web

As a result, more than 20 percent of all noncitizens who face deportation on criminal grounds are black, and black people are ultimately deported at a higher rate.

— shamira ibrahim, Daily Intelligencer, "Patricia Okoumou and the Threat to Black Immigrants," 13 July 2018
The practical impact would be to reduce the number of congressional districts, and therefore Electoral College votes, in states with large numbers of noncitizens — often, though not always, Democratic strongholds.

— michael wines, New York Times, "Why Was a Citizenship Question Put on the Census? ‘Bad Faith,’ a Judge Suggests," 10 July 2018
Still, the overriding message of the ruling was that decisions on admission and exclusion of noncitizens were, first and foremost, matters for the executive and not the judiciary.

— bob egelko, SFChronicle.com, "Travel ban: Ruling a big win for Trump and presidential power," 27 June 2018
The case required Kobach to prove that Kansas has a significant problem with noncitizens registering to vote.

— Fox News, "Federal judge tosses Kansas voter ID law, orders state's top prosecutor to undergo legal training," 19 June 2018
When Israeli policy principally affects Israeli citizens, noncitizens may offer advice but cannot demand influence on the outcome.

— william a. galston, WSJ, "The Fracturing of the Jewish People," 12 June 2018
Of those foreign-born, 46 percent are noncitizens, Mr. Salvo said.

— liz robbins, New York Times, "New York Has 7 Billion Reasons to Worry About a Census Question," 28 Mar. 2018
By contrast, the number of targets for the N.S.A.’s warrantless surveillance program — noncitizens abroad whose communications are collected from American companies like Google — grew significantly, from 106,469 in 2016 to 129,080 last year.

— charlie savage, New York Times, "N.S.A. Triples Collection of Data From U.S. Phone Companies," 4 May 2018
In theory, noncitizens should not fear answering census questions.

— danny cevallos /, NBC News, "Are you a citizen? Here's what happens if you lie on the census.," 2 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'noncitizen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of noncitizen

1850

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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noncitizen

noun non·cit·i·zen \ ˌnän-ˈsi-tə-zən \

legal Definition of noncitizen

: one who is not a citizen

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