Meanings
nounnonbeliever (plural nonbelievers)
plural nonbelievers · alternative non-believer
- A person who does not believe, especially regarding religion.
The many nonbelievers he interviewed[…] were anything but antireligious, for example. […] At one point, he queries Jens, a 68-year-old nonbeliever, about the sources of Denmark’s very ethical culture.
2009 February 28, Peter Steinfels, “Scandanavian Nonbelievers, Which Is Not to Say Atheists”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 31 Jan 2022
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Germanic*ne
- Proto-Indo-European*ís?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
- Proto-Germanic*ainaz
- Proto-Germanic*nainaz
- Proto-West Germanic*nain
- Old Englishnān
- Middle Englishnon
- Old Englishnān
- Old Englishnān-
- Middle Englishnon-
- Englishnon-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
- Proto-Germanic*bi
- Proto-Germanic*bi-
- Proto-West Germanic*bi-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewbʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*laubō
- Proto-Germanic*laubijaną
- Proto-West Germanic*laubijan
- Proto-West Germanic*bilaubijan
- Old Englishbelīefan
- Middle Englishbileven
- Englishbelieve
- Englishbeliever
- Englishnonbeliever
From non- + believer.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 無神論者 /无神论者
- 無神論者 /无神论者 (mou⁴ san⁴ leon⁶ ze²)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Chinese Mandarin 無神論者 /无神论者
- 無神論者 /无神论者 (wúshén lùnzhě)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Czech nevěřící, ateista
- nevěřícía person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateistaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateistkaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Dutch ongelovige, atheïst
- ongelovigea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- atheïsta person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Finnish ei-uskova, uskonnoton
- ei-uskovaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- uskonnotona person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
French non-croyant, non-croyante
- non-croyanta person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- non-croyantea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- athéea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
German Ungläubiger, Ungläubige
- Ungläubigera person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- Ungläubigea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- Nichtglaubendera person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- Nichtglaubendea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- Nichtgläubigera person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- Nichtgläubigea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Greek άπιστος, άπιστη
- άπιστος (ápistos)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- άπιστη (ápisti)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Italian non credente, ateo
- non credentea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateoa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Japanese 信じない人
- 信じない人 (shinjinai hito)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Korean 무신론자, 불가지론자
- 무신론자 (musillonja)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- 불가지론자 (bulgaji-ronja)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- 비종교자 (bijonggyoja)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- 무신앙자 (musinangja)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Polish bezwyznaniowiec, niewierzący
- bezwyznaniowieca person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- niewierzącya person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- niewierzącaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Portuguese incrédulo, incrédula
- incréduloa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- incrédulaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- descrentea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateua person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- atéiaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Romanian necredincios, necredincioasă
- necredinciosa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- necredincioasăa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateua person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Russian неве́рующий, неве́рующая
- неве́рующий (nevérujuščij)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- неве́рующая (nevérujuščaja)a person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Spanish ateo, atea
- ateoa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateaa person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- no creyentea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Swedish icke-troende, ateist
- icke-troendea person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
- ateista person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Turkish inançsız
- inançsıza person who does not believe, especially regarding religion
Cite this entry
APA
nonbeliever. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonbeliever
MLA
“nonbeliever.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonbeliever. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nonbeliever,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonbeliever.
Source: nonbeliever on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.