nongovernmental

adjective

non·​gov·​ern·​men·​tal ˌnän-ˌgə-vər(n)-ˈmen-tᵊl How to pronounce nongovernmental (audio)
: not of or relating to government or a particular government : not governmental
nongovernmental organizations/groups
Many people who are concerned about development are turning to nongovernmental methods of dealing with it.—William H. MacLeish

Examples of nongovernmental in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
To fill the gaps, nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations have stepped in to verify incidents through photos and videos to assess the strikes and their impact. — N. Kirkpatrick, Washington Post, 20 June 2026 At the same time, nongovernmental organizations have poorly administered billions of dollars. — Paul Vallas, Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2026 No sooner had the Supreme Court issued its opinion in a big campaign-finance case yesterday than my inbox began filling up with nongovernmental organizations and Democratic leaders decrying the ruling. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 1 July 2026 Meanwhile, Transparencia Venezuela — the Venezuelan arm of the nongovernmental organization Transparency International — says the criminal group operates in Brazil and Costa Rica, as well. — Uriel Blanco, CNN Money, 13 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for nongovernmental

Word History

First Known Use

1853, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nongovernmental was in 1853

Rhymes for nongovernmental

See All Rhymes for nongovernmental

Browse Nearby Words

nongovernment
nongovernmental
nongraded
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nongovernmental.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nongovernmental. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on nongovernmental

Nglish: Translation of nongovernmental for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All