nonanswer
noun
non·an·swer
| \ ˌnän-ˈan(t)-sər
\
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Definition of nonanswer
: a response that fails to address the subject of a question : an uninformative or unsatisfactory answer
The answer to that question is not easy to come by. "Why did I leave? Because I felt it was time that I left," is Midori's nonanswer during our first interview.— K. Robert Schwarz
Examples of nonanswer in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The long pause from the curators led to a nonanswer that hinted: Don’t bet on it. — Todd Martens, chicagotribune.com, "Originally planned for Chicago, Lucas Museum gives the Comic-Con crowd a peek at new L.A. site," 24 July 2019 The long pause from the curators led to a nonanswer that hinted: Don’t bet on it. — Todd Martens, chicagotribune.com, "Originally planned for Chicago, Lucas Museum gives the Comic-Con crowd a peek at new L.A. site," 24 July 2019 The long pause from the curators led to a nonanswer that hinted: Don’t bet on it. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, "Lucas Museum of Narrative Art gives the Comic-Con crowd a sneak peek," 18 July 2019 Like court nominees before him, Judge Kavanaugh will frustrate his interlocutors with nonanswers so as not to tip his hand on future cases before the court. — The Christian Science Monitor, "A big question for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee," 10 July 2018 Luis Huerta, an associate professor of education and public policy at Columbia University’s Teachers College, argued that DeVos’s nonanswers and evasions and seeming refusal to support her claims with data were deliberate. — Alia Wong, The Atlantic, "Betsy DeVos Is Still Struggling to Articulate Her Educational Vision," 14 Mar. 2018 In the event that this might all be perceived as a partisan horror show, let the record show that Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, was equally frustrated by Bush’s nonanswers. — Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, "Polemicists in Robes," 15 June 2017 But even Mr. Comey’s nonanswer spoke volumes, Ms. Kurka said. — The New York Times, New York Times, "Comey Testimony a Prism for Viewing American Politics," 8 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nonanswer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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