nonconformist

[ non-kuhn-fawr-mist ]

noun

1. a person who refuses to conform, as to established customs, attitudes, or ideas.

   Synonyms: loner, individualist, dissident, dissenter

2. (often initial capital letter) a Protestant in England who is not a member of the Church of England; dissenter.

Nonconformist

¹

/ ˌnɒnkənˈfɔːmɪst /

noun

1. a member of a Protestant denomination that dissents from an Established Church, esp the Church of England

adjective

1. of, relating to, or denoting Nonconformists

nonconformist

²

/ ˌnɒnkənˈfɔːmɪst /

noun

1. a person who does not conform to generally accepted patterns of behaviour or thought

adjective

1. of or characterized by behaviour that does not conform to generally accepted patterns

Derived Forms

• ˌNonconˈformity, noun
• ˌnonconˈformism, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of nonconformist¹

First recorded in 1610–20; non- + conformist

Example Sentences

World War One, combined with Nonconformist disapproval of drink, provided a "convenient excuse" to close a few down but the pubs were still thriving late into the 20th Century.

From BBC

Nonconformist strands of hair attach to her mouth at a staff meeting where she suggests that no true Texan would take the kind of “cowboy-cation” the show plans to feature.

From New York Times

In an article on "Hymns in a Man's Life," Lawrence says the "battle-cry of a stout soul" he hears and admires in English Nonconformist hymns is "far, far from any militarism or gun-fighting."

From Salon

The Nonconformist was firmly in the populists’ corner, but 150 miles to the north, Kansas’s leading Republican newspaper derided the reformers as a gang of disgruntled hayseeds.

From Washington Post

Nonconformists in a fundamentalist society where the radio plays pop songs encouraging women not to go to college, Toorpakai’s parents raised her and her sister, Ayesha Gulalai, a politician, as the equals of their brothers.

From Los Angeles Times