noncharacter

N1O1N1C3H4A1R1A1C3T1E1R1

noun

That which is not a character (unit of text).

Scrabble 19

Meanings

nounnoncharacter (plural noncharacters)

plural noncharacters · alternative non-character

  1. computingThat which is not a character (unit of text).
    1. UnicodecomputingOne of 66 code points (the 32 code points U+FDD0–U+FDEF, plus the last two code points—U+...FFFE and U+...FFFF—of each of the 17 planes) which are guaranteed never to be assigned and are intended for process-internal use.
  2. That which is not a character, as in literature.

    Like the noncharacter at the center of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the screen's nonimage and the man it effaces enable other forms of repression, […]

    2009, Marc Robinson, The American Play: 1787-2000, page 325
  3. A fictional character in a piece of literature or other media that lacks distinct personality traits, depth, or development.

    She’s a non-character hyped up to sell merchandise.

    2023 February 14, penguintruth, “Asking out of geniuine curiosity: Do you really like Mari? Why?”, in reddit.com/r/evangelion

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Germanic*ne
  3. Proto-Indo-European*ís?
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
  5. Proto-Germanic*ainaz
  6. Proto-Germanic*nainaz
  7. Proto-West Germanic*nain
  8. Old Englishnān
  9. Middle Englishnon
  10. Old Englishnān
  11. Old Englishnān-
  12. Middle Englishnon-
  13. Englishnon-
  14. Ancient Greekχαράσσω (kharássō)
  15. Ancient Greekχαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr)
  16. Latincharactēr
  17. Old Frenchcaractere
  18. Middle Englishcaracter
  19. Englishcharacter
  20. Englishnoncharacter

From non- + character.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

noncharacter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noncharacter

MLA

“noncharacter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noncharacter. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “noncharacter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noncharacter.

Source: noncharacter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.