nonstarter

noun

non·​start·​er ˌnän-ˈstär-tər How to pronounce nonstarter (audio)
1
: one that does not start
2
: someone or something that is not productive or effective
his son has been, in politics a nonstarterAnthony Lejeune

Examples of nonstarter in a Sentence

She's the leading scorer among the team's nonstarters.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For Lukas, that was also a nonstarter given the nature of her organization's work. Andrea Hsu, NPR, 16 Dec. 2024 Public opposition over safety and questions about long-term storage of radioactive waste have made building new nuclear facilities almost a nonstarter. David Meyer, Fortune, 21 Nov. 2024 Giving away a bundle of advanced security features permanently was a nonstarter inside Microsoft, an executive told ProPublica. Renee Dudley, ProPublica, 15 Nov. 2024 Last week, Johnson moved forward with a vote on a six-month continuing resolution to keep the government funded that was paired with a controversial non-citizen voting measure that Democrats saw as a nonstarter. Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 23 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for nonstarter 

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of nonstarter was in 1865

Dictionary Entries Near nonstarter

Cite this Entry

“Nonstarter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonstarter. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.

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