nonuniversal

1 7.6

Not true in every situation

adjective
/ˌnɒnˈjuːnɪvɜːrsl/

: no universal

His reasoning was nonuniversal, not applicable to every situation presented in the discussion.

Examples

Social workers committed to social justice must grasp the high stakes involved in the growing enthusiasm for market-based solutions to the United States' expensive and nonuniversal health care system.

Academic text (2009)
The benefits of the new policy are nonuniversal, affecting only a portion of the population.
As the "idol of the marketplace," the fetishized art object illustrates the relationship between cultural and financial capital in a manner that highlights "the problem of the nonuniversal and social construction of value."

Academic text (2002)
In this context, the rules are nonuniversal, as they do not apply to every participant equally.

Antonyms

universal

312 4.2

True in all places and for all people

How Universal

universal

312 4.2

general

10 4.5

common

∞ 1.0

nonuniversal

1 7.6

occasional

257 2.8

rare

944 4.1

Surface Forms

nonuniversal positive

Morphology

nonuniversal = universal (transparent) = non + universal

Formed by the productive negating prefix 'non-' added to the adjective 'universal', yielding the simple meaning 'not universal'.

Etymology

The word nonuniversal starts with non- meaning 'not' and uses universal, which means 'for everyone' or 'everywhere' like in universe. So nonuniversal means 'not true in all cases' or 'not used everywhere'.