nonbelievers

nonbelievers — noun

1. people who do not accept a particular religion or do not hold any religious fait

1.名詞C1
釋義

people who do not accept a particular religion or do not hold any religious faith at all — often used by members of a faith to refer to those outside it.

例句

Ife's grandmother prayed every night that the nonbelievers in the village would one day join the church.

the nonbelievers + in [place] for a group outside a faith

The old preacher warned that nonbelievers would never find peace without God in their hearts.

nonbelievers as the rhetorical out-group of a religious speaker

同義詞
  • atheist

    neutral, asserts active disbelief in any god

  • unbeliever

    near-identical to 'nonbeliever', slightly more archaic and biblical

  • infidel

    historical/hostile; mostly used in Christian or Muslim polemics — avoid in neutral writing

  • skeptic

    doubts rather than rejects; can apply to religion or any claim

反義詞

文法句型

the nonbelievers

nonbelievers in [noun]

用法筆記

Almost always plural and almost always used by someone speaking from inside a religious tradition about those outside it; carries a mildly judgmental tone that neutral words like 'atheist' or 'secular person' do not.

常見錯誤

❌I am a nonbeliever in this restaurant.
✅I don't trust this restaurant.
💡'nonbeliever' is almost exclusively about religious faith, not general doubt.
❌Many scientists are nonbelievers of evolution.
✅Many scientists reject creationism.
💡flipping the framing this way sounds odd; 'nonbeliever' takes religion as its default object, not a scientific theory.