nonobservant

adjective

non·​ob·​ser·​vant ˌnän-əb-ˈzər-vənt How to pronounce nonobservant (audio)
: not observant
especially : not careful in observing religious rites, laws, and customs
a nonobservant Jew

Examples of nonobservant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Richard Lowell Rubenstein was born Jan. 28, 1924, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Jesse and Sara (Fine) Rubenstein, nonobservant parents who chose not even to have their son called to the Torah for his bar mitzvah. BostonGlobe.com, 6 June 2021 Intolerance to gay rights and the nonobservant: Where Netanyahu and other Western right-wing leaders have tentatively embraced LGBT rights in recent years, the Israeli far right is often openly hostile. Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2022 Though not all Jews observe all aspects of the holiday, it’s known as the one holiday on which many nonobservant Jews attend synagogue. Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, 25 Sep. 2020 Raised in a nonobservant Jewish family in the affluent Bay Area town of Hillsborough, California, Grobman had been in trouble for years. Alix Wall, sun-sentinel.com, 1 Sep. 2021 About 300 people, most affiliated with EMIH but also including some nonobservant Hungarian Jews, attended a street celebration that culminated with the affixing of a new mezuzah at the synagogue by Rabbi Szlomo Koves, the head of EMIH. Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 8 Sep. 2021 Rabbi Steinsaltz was a devoted disciple of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994, and his Chabad-Lubavitch school of Judaism, which embraces nonobservant Jews and proselytizes among them. Joseph Berger, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1751, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nonobservant was in 1751

Dictionary Entries Near nonobservant

Cite this Entry

“Nonobservant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonobservant. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

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