nonmetal

noun

"nonmetal" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nonmetal” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An element, such as phosphorus or chlorine, that does not have the chemical or physical properties of a metal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-nonmetal · nonmetal · English

nonmetal · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "N" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for nonmetal
PropertyValue
Headwordnonmetal
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “nonmetal” in English

nonmetalranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nonmetal is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An element, such as phosphorus or chlorine, that does not have the chemical or physical properties of a metal.".

nonmetal has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From non- + metal. The correct English form is nonmetal, spelled N-O-N-M-E-T-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    An element, such as phosphorus or chlorine, that does not have the chemical or physical properties of a metal.

Etymology

From non- + metal.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nonmetal"?
"nonmetal" is spelled N-O-N-M-E-T-A-L.
What does "nonmetal" mean?
As a noun, "nonmetal" means: An element, such as phosphorus or chlorine, that does not have the chemical or physical properties of a metal.
What is the origin of the word "nonmetal"?
From non- + metal. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list