nonword
Americannoun
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a word that is not recognized or accepted as legitimate, as one produced by a spelling or typographical error.
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a word whose meaning or use is not approved in a given circumstance.
“Failure” is a nonword in her vocabulary.
Etymology
Origin of nonword
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Twenty years later, I carry that nonword around like a sacred incantation, a prayer I say to the rising sun each day: DEODOTANT.
From New York Times
Clinton tweeted back "People in covfefe houses shouldn't throw covfefe," a dig at Trump for tweeting the mystifying nonword.
From Time
Clinton tweeted back “People in covfefe houses shouldn’t throw covfefe,” a dig at Trump for tweeting the mystifying nonword.
From Seattle Times
In an interview on “New Day” on CNN, she was asked by hosts Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota to spell “covfefe,” the bewildering nonword President Trump used in a tweet early on Wednesday morning that set off a stampede of speculation and joking on social media.
From New York Times
The other major challenge in gymnastics music is to reproduce pop hits without their lyrics—though nonword vocals are allowed, which is why we get our double-doubles accompanied by a lot of tonal baby babbling.
From Slate
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.