non-native

adjective

non-na·​tive ˌnän-ˈnā-tiv 

variants or nonnative

: not native: such as

a

of a plant or animal : living or growing in a place that is not the location of its natural occurrence

a non-native fish species

… overgrazing causes grasslands to give way to sagebrush, mesquite and non-native exotic grasses, environmentalists contend.

—Doug McInnis

b

: not born or raised in the place where a particular language is spoken

non-native inhabitants

a nonnative speaker of English [=a person who speaks English but whose native language is not English]

non-native noun

or nonnative

plural non-natives or nonnatives

popular among both natives and non-natives

Synonyms

• alien
• foreign

Examples of non-native in a Sentence

nonnative customs that made the recent immigrants stand out in their new country

Recent Examples on the Web

Other non-native ephemerals, such as lesser celandine, are more annoying and more recent arrivals. —Carl R. Gold, Baltimore Sun, 30 Mar. 2025

The goal of the competition is finding a replacement for the carnation — a non-native flower that has served as San Diego’s official city flower since 1964. —David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2025

These include the redwood trees and non-native eucalyptus trees, according to the proposal. —George Avalos, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2025

Participants will learn to identify non-native and invasive species and remove them, with a focus on Caesar’s weed. —Joe Rassel, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for non-native

• creative
• locative
• nonnative
• probative
• rotative
• accommodative
• accumulative
• adjudicative
• administrative
• agglutinative
• ameliorative
• appreciative