nonobservant
adjective
non·ob·ser·vant
ˌnän-əb-ˈzər-vənt 
: not observant
especially
: not careful in observing religious rites, laws, and customs
a nonobservant Jew
Examples of nonobservant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Richard Lowell Rubenstein was born Jan. 28, 1924, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Jesse and Sara (Fine) Rubenstein, nonobservant parents who chose not even to have their son called to the Torah for his bar mitzvah.
—
BostonGlobe.com, 6 June 2021
Intolerance to gay rights and the nonobservant: Where Netanyahu and other Western right-wing leaders have tentatively embraced LGBT rights in recent years, the Israeli far right is often openly hostile.
—Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2022
Though not all Jews observe all aspects of the holiday, it’s known as the one holiday on which many nonobservant Jews attend synagogue.
—Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, 25 Sep. 2020
Raised in a nonobservant Jewish family in the affluent Bay Area town of Hillsborough, California, Grobman had been in trouble for years.
—Alix Wall, sun-sentinel.com, 1 Sep. 2021
About 300 people, most affiliated with EMIH but also including some nonobservant Hungarian Jews, attended a street celebration that culminated with the affixing of a new mezuzah at the synagogue by Rabbi Szlomo Koves, the head of EMIH.
—Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 8 Sep. 2021
Rabbi Steinsaltz was a devoted disciple of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994, and his Chabad-Lubavitch school of Judaism, which embraces nonobservant Jews and proselytizes among them.
—Joseph Berger, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2020
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BostonGlobe.com, 6 June 2021
Intolerance to gay rights and the nonobservant: Where Netanyahu and other Western right-wing leaders have tentatively embraced LGBT rights in recent years, the Israeli far right is often openly hostile.
—Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2022
Though not all Jews observe all aspects of the holiday, it’s known as the one holiday on which many nonobservant Jews attend synagogue.
—Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, 25 Sep. 2020
Raised in a nonobservant Jewish family in the affluent Bay Area town of Hillsborough, California, Grobman had been in trouble for years.
—Alix Wall, sun-sentinel.com, 1 Sep. 2021
About 300 people, most affiliated with EMIH but also including some nonobservant Hungarian Jews, attended a street celebration that culminated with the affixing of a new mezuzah at the synagogue by Rabbi Szlomo Koves, the head of EMIH.
—Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 8 Sep. 2021
Rabbi Steinsaltz was a devoted disciple of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994, and his Chabad-Lubavitch school of Judaism, which embraces nonobservant Jews and proselytizes among them.
—Joseph Berger, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Nonobservant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonobservant. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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