nonstandard
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Not standard; not accepted as a model of excellence.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nahnstanderdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
nɑnsˈtændɚd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Not standard; not accepted as a model of excellence
linguistics
Not conforming to the standard variety, or to the language as used by the majority of its speakers.
Not conforming to the language usage of a prestige group within a community
“A nonstandard dialect is one used by uneducated speakers or socially disfavored groups.”
Varying from or not adhering to a standard
noun
Something that is not standard.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not standard; not accepted as a model of excellence
Used this way, nonstandard is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It quietly approves while staying precise.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Successful and accomplished
- Usage feel
- Precise and approving
Nearby words
- unaccepted , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use nonstandard
- “A nonstandard dialect is one used by uneducated speakers or socially disfavored groups.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: not standard
Antonyms
Sense: something that is not standard
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.