nongovernmental

adjective

non·​gov·​ern·​men·​tal ˌnän-ˌgə-vər(n)-ˈmen-tᵊl 

: not of or relating to government or a particular government : not governmental

nongovernmental organizations/groups

Many people who are concerned about development are turning to nongovernmental methods of dealing with it.

—William H. MacLeish

Examples of nongovernmental in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Justice Department filed the affidavit to a Georgia federal court for release to the public on the order of a federal judge, who instructed government lawyers to make redactions to shield the names of nongovernmental witnesses. —Aysha Bagchi, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026

The opposition and nongovernmental organizations have reacted with cautious optimism as well as with suggestions and demands for more information on the contents of the proposal. —Regina Garcia Cano, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026

SpaceX was founded in 2002 and has established itself as the premier nongovernmental space exploration operation. —Hannah Parker, NBC news, 8 Feb. 2026

But the numbers have been steadily climbing as a network of international nongovernmental organizations has worked to verify the scale of the crackdown. —Somayeh Malekian, ABC News, 27 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1853, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nongovernmental

• coincidental
• developmental
• environmental
• experimental
• intersegmental
• transcontinental
• unsentimental
• accidental
• compartmental
• continental
• detrimental
• elemental