Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
nonpersonal

nonpersonal

6.7
Not about a particular person and not showing private feelings
  • adjective
  • /nɒnˈpɜːrsənl/
translation icon : impersonal
  • Unless a person can cite some nonpersonal source for his talk about important areas of life, his statements lack value.

Examples

  • In the report, nonpersonal viewpoints were prioritized to present a balanced analysis.

  • The company's policy is based on nonpersonal criteria to ensure fairness in hiring.

  • Second, if a withdrawal rate is higher than average for a particular professor, then active measures, based on all nonpersonal issues identified, can be taken to improve the course retention rate.

    Academic text (1995)

  • It had to be supplemented with other, imaginative, and nonpersonal factors, which in a mysterious way would guide an able person toward his opportunity.

    Academic text (1991)

  • All of these categories—personal knowledge, knowledge through language, or nonpersonal knowledge—are marked grammatically, as constantly and as insistently as our number.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The lecture focused on nonpersonal observations that could apply to anyone in the field.

Synonyms

impersonal
vsnonpersonal
25 5.1

Not showing personal feelings or warmth and seeming distant

expresses a wider lack of individual characteristics or uniqueness rather than tone
unpersonalized
vsnonpersonal
6.3

Not made for one person and the same for everyone

includes lack of individual characteristics or uniqueness rather than only being generic

Antonyms

personal
∞ 1.4

Relating to a particular person's character, feelings, or private life

How Personal

personalized
  • US
1 4.1
personal
313 2.7
nonpersonal
6.7
impersonal
25 5.1
general
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

nonpersonal positive

Morphology

nonpersonal = personal (transparent) = non + person + al

The adjective is formed by adding the productive negative prefix 'non-' to the familiar adjective 'personal', yielding a straightforward negation.

Etymology

Nonpersonal is made of the prefix non- meaning 'not' and personal, from person meaning 'a person', so it literally means 'not about a person'. That's why something nonpersonal does not involve a particular person or personal feelings.