nonperson

[ non-pur-suhn ]

noun

1. someone whose existence or presence is not recognized.
2. someone whose existence is denied or ignored by a government, political party, or the like, often as a punishment for disloyalty or dissent and sometimes resulting in the loss of personal liberty; unperson.

nonperson

1. A former political leader whom a government wants the people to ignore, because the former leader's views or actions are considered unacceptable by the current government. This unusual practice is most commonly used in totalitarian states ( see totalitarianism ), where past leaders often disappear from the official histories of one regime and reappear in the histories of another. The creation of nonpersons was particularly striking in the former Soviet Union , where leaders such as Trotsky and Khrushchev became nonpersons even while they were alive. ( See rehabilitation .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of nonperson¹

First recorded in 1905–10; non- + person

Example Sentences

But what does that mean for a nonperson?

From New York Times

When Swann denounces the persecution of the Jewish army captain Alfred Dreyfus, wrongly accused of treason, he becomes a nonperson and, along with other "Dreyfusards," is blacklisted.

From Salon

He soon was rendered a nonperson within the Soviet Union, as his successor Leonid Brezhnev assumed the leadership.

From Seattle Times

He provides a host of phantom enemies, usually the weak and the vulnerable, who are rendered nonpersons.

From Salon

Her old friends shun her as a nonperson.

From New York Times

Related Words

• expatriate
• fugitive
• refugee