NONRELIGIOUS Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

nonreligious

adjective

ˌnän-ri-ˈli-jəs

Definition of nonreligious

as in atheistic

lacking religious emotions, principles, or practices grew up in a nonreligious family

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in secular

not involving religion or religious matters a display of nonreligious holiday decorations on municipally owned property

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of nonreligious Florida statutes creating the charter school framework also require those schools to be nonreligious. — Gray Rohrer, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026 Republicans vow to appeal Arkansas ruling Last year, seven Arkansas families of various religious and nonreligious backgrounds filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s new law requiring all public elementary and secondary schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom and library. — Sara Cline, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026 About 7 in 10 nonreligious voters supported Harris. — CBS News, 20 Mar. 2026 After her death, Begel found comfort in the Catholic faith after years of being nonreligious. — Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 6 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for nonreligious

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonreligious

Adjective

His father's death during World War II influenced his pursuit of the ministry even amid the officially atheistic communist regime of the Soviet Union, according to his obituary on the OCU website.

— ABC News, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026
But there has been a recent rise in secular congregations that explicitly mimic religious organizations and rituals to celebrate atheistic worldviews.

— Jacqui Frost, The Conversation, 11 Jan. 2024

Definition of atheistic

Adjective

Despite offers, the Pentecostals there have declined to sell it back into secular use.

— Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 3 Sep. 2026
While Insulet stock may face volatility from unrelated issues, the underlying secular demand for tubeless insulin delivery remains highly resilient against the GLP-1 wave.

— Harvey Stober, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of secular

Adjective

Because materialism had an irreligious connotation, Hattem says it was left out of the national conversation until the Gilded Age of the 1920s, when people start saying the quiet part out loud.

— Cari Shane, USA Today, 25 June 2026
This story is told by an unnamed narrator, an irreligious woman who has joined the nuns as a lay resident after her faith in environmental advocacy crumbled.

— Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026

Definition of irreligious

Adjective

Curiously, cobalt was linked with a small rise in amyloid-beta proteins in the inferior temporal cortex.

— Mike McRae August 31, New Atlas, 1 Sep. 2026
The happy faces lit up their temporal cortex and caudate nucleus, which are parts of the brain associated with higher cognitive and reward processing.

— Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of temporal

Adjective

Up to that point, America’s external enemy—the godless Soviets—gave the movement coherence and urgency.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2026
Sometimes this was committed to good, such as the Marshall Plan and the Peace Corps, and sometimes to ill, as in a series of military blunders meant to quash godless Communism.

— Jim Rasenberger, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026

Definition of godless

Adjective

The denials followed the Temple's Capitol holiday display in 2023, centered on a statue of the pagan idol Baphomet, alongside other religious displays allowed by the state.

— William Morris, Des Moines Register, 13 Aug. 2026
There’s more than a tinge of folk horror to this lingering mystery, which brings to mind the 1973 genre landmark The Wicker Man, in which a puritanical police officer travels to a remote island community that’s reverted to old pagan ways.

— Keith Phipps, Vulture, 15 June 2026