nondelivery

1 4.6

A package or message that was expected but does not arrive

noun
/ˌnɒn.dɪˈlɪv.ər.i/

: no entrega

The company received multiple complaints about the nondelivery of packages that customers had paid for.

Examples

Due to the nondelivery of his letter, he was unaware of the important news until weeks later.
Nondelivery is highly visible, and it can undermine a program.

Academic text (1994)
The efforts of these workers and the millions of peaceable voters should be applauded, but the glaring shortcomings of the voter rolls and registration process, nondelivery of ballots, bribery, and outright fraud similarly cannot be ignored.

Academic text (2018)
The nondelivery of critical supplies has caused significant delays in the construction project.

Synonyms

nonreception

vsnondelivery

1 8.5

A situation when something does not arrive or people do not accept it

focuses on the sender failing to send an expected item

Antonyms

delivery

613 1.0

Bringing parcels or food to someone

Surface Forms

nondelivery singular

nondeliveries plural

Morphology

nondelivery = delivery (transparent) = non + delivery

The negative prefix 'non-' is productively applied to the noun 'delivery', so the meaning 'failure to deliver' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Nondelivery comes from the prefix non- meaning 'not' and the familiar word delivery, which means 'bringing or giving something to someone'. So nondelivery is simply the 'not bringing' or failure to give what was expected.