nontraditional

adjective

non·​tra·​di·​tion·​al ˌnän-trə-ˈdish-nəl How to pronounce nontraditional (audio)
-ˈdi-shə-nᵊl
: not following or conforming to tradition : not adhering to past practices or conventions : not traditional
a nontraditional family
nontraditional students
nontraditional menu items
Many use nontraditional teaching techniques, and they deliberately draw their students from beyond traditional neighborhood boundaries …Thomas Toch
nontraditionally adverb
… to learn how to build and sell cars nontraditionally Michael Schrage

Examples of nontraditional in a Sentence

a nontraditional couple who are planning a very unconventional wedding
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Schoemann denied any wrongdoing, saying the county engaged in a nontraditional but widely publicized process seeking ideas for the property and the school's $3 million proposal was the best financial option. Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 28 Aug. 2025 But even that nontraditional hire had a traditional background, as Moglia had worked as a college assistant for more than a decade before beginning a career on Wall Street in the 1980s. Andrew Greif, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2025 How those clients paid Epstein was somewhat nontraditional, however, and in Johnson's case that involved signing over one of her multi-million dollar properties to Epstein. Chris Spargo, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025 Mark Zuckerberg, who notably dropped out of Harvard during his sophomore year after successfully launching Facebook with his roommates, has also openly questioned whether college prepares young people for today’s jobs, noting that many impactful contributors in tech have nontraditional backgrounds. Ashley Lutz, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for nontraditional

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nontraditional was in 1915

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Cite this Entry

“Nontraditional.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nontraditional. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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