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

• 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

Review rejection patterns by gender, age and geography; retrain models that over-penalize non-native accents or slower typists. —Ruben Vardanyan, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025

Much of the grant money, intended for a variety of programs ranging from after-school activities to English language instruction for non-native speakers, had already been committed to staff salaries and benefits before funds were frozen, officials previously told The Star. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 28 July 2025

One of the primary culprits behind this ecological unraveling is habitat loss, driven by urban development, industrial agriculture, and the widespread use of non-native ornamental plants. —Special To The Denver Post, Denver Post, 27 July 2025

The district serves roughly 1,100 students who are non-native English speakers. —Collin Binkley, Arkansas Online, 26 July 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