nonperson
noun
non·per·son
ˌnän-ˈpər-sᵊn 
: a person who is regarded as nonexistent: such as
a
: unperson
b
: one having no social or legal status
Examples of nonperson in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The system was nothing less than an Irish Gulag, its inmates nonpersons, placed beyond the pale of citizenship.
—
Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2023
Credit Reynolds for making this thing watchable, but watching a nonperson does get tedious after a couple of hours.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2021
Not only was Paul Robeson — another great athlete of that first wave era — reduced to an Orwellian nonperson for all practical purposes.
—Washington Post, 27 July 2021
Some 20 years before, Korolev had been a different kind of nonperson.
—Andrew Stuttaford, WSJ, 18 Apr. 2021
Mirroring the Scientology custom whereby anyone who bad-mouths the church is ostracized as a nonperson, the practice smacks of a cult.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 10 Feb. 2019
Mirroring the Scientology custom whereby anyone who badmouths the church is ostracized as a nonperson, the practice smacks of a cult.
—WSJ, 23 Jan. 2019
Trotsky, for example, who had become a nonperson, is vivid in the book.
—Olga Ingurazova, Smithsonian, 29 Sep. 2017
No memoir captures the human damage better than scriptwriter Walter Bernstein’s humane and entertaining account of his 11 years as a nonperson in Hollywood and New York.
—WSJ, 24 Feb. 2017
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2023
Credit Reynolds for making this thing watchable, but watching a nonperson does get tedious after a couple of hours.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2021
Not only was Paul Robeson — another great athlete of that first wave era — reduced to an Orwellian nonperson for all practical purposes.
—Washington Post, 27 July 2021
Some 20 years before, Korolev had been a different kind of nonperson.
—Andrew Stuttaford, WSJ, 18 Apr. 2021
Mirroring the Scientology custom whereby anyone who bad-mouths the church is ostracized as a nonperson, the practice smacks of a cult.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 10 Feb. 2019
Mirroring the Scientology custom whereby anyone who badmouths the church is ostracized as a nonperson, the practice smacks of a cult.
—WSJ, 23 Jan. 2019
Trotsky, for example, who had become a nonperson, is vivid in the book.
—Olga Ingurazova, Smithsonian, 29 Sep. 2017
No memoir captures the human damage better than scriptwriter Walter Bernstein’s humane and entertaining account of his 11 years as a nonperson in Hollywood and New York.
—WSJ, 24 Feb. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Nonperson.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonperson. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share