Meanings
comparative more nonconfrontational · superlative most nonconfrontational · alternative non-confrontational
- Not confrontational; approaching a dispute indirectly.
Of course,[…] physicians and students need to be educated about how to give feedback in professional and nonconfrontational ways.
2007 April 17, Barron H. Lerner, “In a Hospital Hierarchy, Speaking Up Is Hard to Do”, in New York Times1 more example
Just a few days before McNamara died, Politico uncovered a particularly graphic example involving The Post: an invitation to lobbyists to shell out $25,000 to $250,000 to sponsor off-the-record, nonconfrontational "salons" where they could mix with what a promotional flier called "the right people" and "alter the debate."
2009 July 25, Frank Rich, “And That's Not the Way It Is”, in New York Times
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-
- Englishconfrontation
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishconfrontational
- Englishnonconfrontational
From non- + confrontational.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
nonconfrontational. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonconfrontational
“nonconfrontational.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonconfrontational. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nonconfrontational,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonconfrontational.
Source: nonconfrontational on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.