nonexistent

adjective

non·​ex·​is·​tent ˌnän-ig-ˈzi-stənt 

: not in actual or present occurrence : not existing

… historical accounts of the first Thanksgiving are almost nonexistent …

—Jasper White

Water was often a luxury, bathrooms were nonexistent, the food was often suspect.

—Noel Vietmeyer

Although brain size and organization became basically modern at least 100,000 years ago, with the robust Neanderthals, their advances in tool-making were slight, their self-expression through art virtually nonexistent.

—John Noble Wilford

Synonyms of nonexistent

• absent
• lacking

Examples of nonexistent in a Sentence

our perennially nonexistent computer tech is, once again, not here today

Recent Examples on the Web

Weak—or even nonexistent—overnight freezes have left the snowpack soft and unstable early in the day, limiting the window for safe travel. —Callie Zanandrie, CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026

Many jobs common 100 years ago—drayman, telephone operator, woodchopper, hoistman—are niche or nonexistent today. —Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026

Shahidi said gold allocation in portfolios could go up to 5%, up from virtually nonexistent in the past. —Sarah Min, CNBC, 25 Mar. 2026

Federal oversight has been slow or nonexistent, though many legislators have tried. —Kristin Stoller, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nonexistent

• coexistent
• equidistant
• inconsistent
• preexistent
• assistant
• consistent
• existent
• insistent
• persistent
• resistant
• subsistent
• distant