noncitizen

N1O1N1C3I1T1I1Z10E1N1

noun

Someone who is not a citizen.

“It can be very difficult to hire a noncitizen.”

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 21

Meanings

nounnoncitizen (plural noncitizens)

plural noncitizens

  1. Someone who is not a citizen.

    It can be very difficult to hire a noncitizen.

    3 more examples

    Prison Is a Place Called Hell Trenton State Prison is a nasty, stinking, medieval cubbyhole that was built in 1849 for noncitizens and mules, eight years before the Supreme Kangaroo Court under Chief Racist Taney declared the black man in American should not be considered a citizen of these United States.*

    2011 April 1, Rubin Carter, The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472, Chicago Review Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 160

    But there is one study that has been interpreted to suggest it is at least possible. It found that between 32,000 and 2.8 million noncitizen voters might have fraudulently cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election. The study, based on a survey of 38,000 people after that election, has been under fire since it was published in 2014.

    2017 January 26, Nate Cohn, “Illegal Voting Claims, and Why They Don’t Hold Up”, in The New York Times

    Republicans are pushing legislation to crack down on voting by noncitizens, which happens rarely and is already illegal in federal elections, in a move that reinforces former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to delegitimize the 2024 results if he loses.

    2024 May 21, Luke Broadwater, “House G.O.P. Moves to Crack Down on Noncitizen Voting, Sowing False Narrative”, in The New York Times

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

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. Englishcitizen
  15. Englishnoncitizen

From non- + citizen.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Estonian mittekodanik
  • mittekodaniksomeone who is not a citizen
Finnish ulkomaan kansalainen
  • ulkomaan kansalainensomeone who is not a citizen
French non-citoyen, non-citoyenne
  • non-citoyensomeone who is not a citizen
  • non-citoyennesomeone who is not a citizen
German Nichtbürger, Nichtbürgerin
  • Nichtbürgersomeone who is not a citizen
  • Nichtbürgerinsomeone who is not a citizen
Italian non cittadino, non cittadina
  • non cittadinosomeone who is not a citizen
  • non cittadinasomeone who is not a citizen
Latvian nepilsonis, nepilsone
  • nepilsonissomeone who is not a citizen
  • nepilsonesomeone who is not a citizen
Lithuanian nepilietis, nepilietė
  • nepilietissomeone who is not a citizen
  • nepilietėsomeone who is not a citizen
Polish nieobywatel, nieobywatelka
  • nieobywatelsomeone who is not a citizen
  • nieobywatelkasomeone who is not a citizen
Russian неграждани́н, негражда́нка
  • неграждани́н (negraždanín)someone who is not a citizen
  • негражда́нка (negraždánka)someone who is not a citizen
Swedish icke-medborgare
  • icke-medborgaresomeone who is not a citizen
Ukrainian негромадянин, негромадянка
  • негромадянин (nehromadjanyn)someone who is not a citizen
  • негромадянка (nehromadjanka)someone who is not a citizen
Cite this entry
APA

noncitizen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noncitizen

MLA

“noncitizen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noncitizen. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “noncitizen,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noncitizen.

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