1
as in atheistic
lacking religious emotions, principles, or practices
grew up in a nonreligious family
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in secular
not involving religion or religious matters
a display of nonreligious holiday decorations on municipally owned property
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nonreligious
Some nonreligious customs of celebration include eating certain treats, giving children gifts of chocolate coins and playing with a dreidel.
—
Chris Sims, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Dec. 2024
According to the lawsuit, the TDCJ had previously allowed employees to wear head coverings for both religious and nonreligious purposes — including baseball caps.
—Serena Lin, Austin American-Statesman, 3 May 2024
The parallel state is widening its social base beyond Islamists to nonreligious nationalists, in an attempt to co-opt the growing influence of those who despise the official and selective imposition of Islamic law.
—Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Aug. 2021
The move prompted a coalition of parents — Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious — to sue the state in federal court.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nonreligious 
Chris Sims, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Dec. 2024
According to the lawsuit, the TDCJ had previously allowed employees to wear head coverings for both religious and nonreligious purposes — including baseball caps.
—Serena Lin, Austin American-Statesman, 3 May 2024
The parallel state is widening its social base beyond Islamists to nonreligious nationalists, in an attempt to co-opt the growing influence of those who despise the official and selective imposition of Islamic law.
—Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Aug. 2021
The move prompted a coalition of parents — Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious — to sue the state in federal court.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nonreligious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonreligious
Adjective
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In 2006, Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Fatah, the secular party of the Palestinian Authority.—
Claudine Ebeid,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2025
-
Many even moved between Islamist and secular armed groups.—
NAFEES HAMID,
Foreign Affairs,
31 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Great vacations exist in a temporal netherworld, unmoored from the reality of daily life.—
Sofia Perez,
Travel + Leisure,
30 Jan. 2025
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The Apocalypse was a way out, a temporal doorway to God and Heaven.—
Arthur Krystal,
The New Yorker,
27 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Finishing off the top 5 is religious flick The Forge with an irreligious weekend take-home of $6.6.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
25 Aug. 2024
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From its earliest days in the nineteenth century and until the Holocaust, the Orthodox rabbinate in eastern Europe was not enthusiastic about the Zionist movement, which at the time was led by irreligious Jews.—
Elliott Abrams,
Foreign Affairs,
1 July 2011
Adjective
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Compared with the heavenly bliss promised at the end of Revelation, Byron’s godless planet was bleak stuff indeed.—
Jennifer Szalai,
New York Times,
22 Jan. 2025
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The personal abjection in McGahern’s novels is best understood as an allegory of social despair, which is in turn allegorical of a godless existence.—
Sam Sacks,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Allen's defense team aggressively pushed their theory that Odinists, members of a pagan Norse religion hijacked by white nationalists, killed the girls during a sacrificial ritual in the woods.—
Kristine Phillips,
The Indianapolis Star,
13 Nov. 2024
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There’s a lot of folklore, superstition and myth — pagan elements really, that are folded into how people actually practice religion in Ireland.—
Georg Szalai,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Thesaurus Entries Near nonreligious
Cite this Entry
“Nonreligious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonreligious. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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