nonconformity
/nɑnkənˈfɔɹmɪdi/
nonconformity noun: a refusal to conform to the doctrine, discipline, or practice of a state religion, especially refusal by other Protestants to conform to the doctrine or discipline of the Church of England; the principles or practice of nonconformists; nonconformists as a class.
Noun (1)
nonconformity (countable and uncountable, plural nonconformities)
- A refusal to conform to the doctrine, discipline, or practice of a state religion, especially refusal by other Protestants to conform to the doctrine or discipline of the Church of England; the principles or practice of nonconformists; nonconformists as a class.
- Here then is S. Pauls Judaeus in abscondito, a Jew inwardly. Here is the true Recusant, and the true Non-conformitan; Au∣diunt, sed non faciunt: he comes to hear, but never comes to doe; there's Recusancy: he confesses that he hath received good instru∣ction, but he refufes to conform himself unto...1618, John Donne, XXVI Sermons (Never Before Publish'd) Preached by That Learned and Reverend Divine John Donne, Doctor in Divinity, Late Dean of the Cathedral Church of St Pauls, London: The Third...
- Synonyms:
- dissent, dissentism, inconformity, nonconformism, nonconformitancy
- Antonyms:
- conformity
- A rejection of, or failure to conform to, a practice, standard, rule, or law.
- But as no man, that does acknowledg the Authority and Divinity of the Scriptures, can easily satisfie himself in living in the Breach of any of it's known rules and precepts, without the countenance and protection (such as it is) of some vain imagination, and deceitful reasoning or other, so is it...1653, William Allen, Some Baptismal Abuses Briefly Discovered; or, A Cordial Endeavour to Reduce the Administration and Use of Baptism, to Its Primitive Purity […], London, page 79; republished Ann...
- Synonyms:
- disconformity, inconformity, nonconformism
- Antonyms:
- conformity
- A type of unconformity in which a nonsedimentary rock intrudes in sedimentary layers.
Noun (2) capitalized: Nonconformity
Nonconformity
- Alternative form of nonconformity (“refusal to conform to a state religion”).
Synonyms of nonconformity
Antonyms
Forms of nonconformity
| plural | nonconformities |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Non-conformity |
| alternative form | non-conformity |
| alternative form | Nonconformity |
Origin of nonconformity
From non- + conformity.
Words formed from nonconformity
Questions about nonconformity
- What does nonconformity mean?
- Nonconformity means a refusal to conform to the doctrine, discipline, or practice of a state religion, especially refusal by other Protestants to conform to the doctrine or discipline of the Church of England; the principles or practice of nonconformists; nonconformists as a class.
- What part of speech is nonconformity?
- Nonconformity is a noun.
- How do you pronounce nonconformity?
- Nonconformity is pronounced /nɑnkənˈfɔɹmɪdi/ (US).
- What is the plural of nonconformity?
- The plural of nonconformity is nonconformities.
Words near nonconformity in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nonconformity (page history and authors); Nonconformity (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Neøn-nonconformity.wav.
Cite this entry: “nonconformity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nonconformity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.