nongovernmental

nongovernmental — adjective

  • nongovernmentalpositive
  • more nongovernmentalcomparative
  • most nongovernmentalsuperlative

1. describes a body, group, or activity that is separate from the state — set up, f

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describes a body, group, or activity that is separate from the state — set up, funded, and managed by private citizens rather than by any government

Example

Sana works for a nongovernmental group that brings clean water to villages in the mountains.

nongovernmental + group (most frequent pattern)

Min volunteers at a nongovernmental clinic that treats patients who cannot afford hospital care.

Common collocations
  • nongovernmental organization
  • nongovernmental agency
  • nongovernmental body
  • nongovernmental source
Synonyms
  • private

    broader term that includes for-profit businesses; 'nongovernmental' is more precise when the contrast is specifically with the state

  • independent

    emphasizes freedom from outside control rather than the government/non-government divide

  • civil-society

    refers to the whole sector of organized social life between the state and the market; 'nongovernmental' is the adjective for one part of that sector

Antonyms
  • governmental

    the direct opposite — belonging to or run by the government

  • state-run

    owned and operated by the government

Grammar Patterns

nongovernmental + organization / agency / body / group

Usage Note

Used almost exclusively before a noun (attributive position). The phrase 'nongovernmental organization' — often shortened to NGO — accounts for the vast majority of occurrences in English.

Common Mistakes

She joined a non government group.
She joined a nongovernmental group.
The word is written as one unhyphenated word, not as separate words.
It is a nonprofit organization, not a governmental one.' (when meaning 'nongovernmental')
It is a nongovernmental organization.
'Nonprofit' means the group does not seek profit; 'nongovernmental' means it is not part of the government. An organization can be both, but the words describe different things.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These five adjectives all describe bodies outside direct state control, but they highlight different contrasts. 'Nongovernmental' is the most precise when the key distinction is government versus non-government — a nongovernmental organization (NGO) may be nonprofit or for-profit, large or small; what matters is that no government owns or runs it. 'Private' is broader: a private company like a supermarket chain is private but not typically called nongovernmental. 'Independent' stresses autonomy — an independent agency might still receive some government funding. 'Nonprofit' focuses on the financial structure: any surplus goes back into the mission rather than to owners, and a nonprofit can be governmental (like a public university) or nongovernmental (like a charity). 'Civil-society' is the newest and most academic term, naming the whole sphere of voluntary collective action between the family, the state, and the market — so 'civil-society organization' overlaps heavily with NGO but carries a more theoretical tone. In everyday English, when someone says 'I work for an NGO,' the key message is: not for the government.

nongovernmental ↗private ↗independent ↗nonprofit ↗civil-society

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • nongovernmental organization
  • nongovernmental agency

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Formed in English by adding the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non', meaning 'not') to the adjective 'governmental'. 'Governmental' itself comes from 'government' (borrowed from Old French 'governement') plus the adjective suffix '-al'. The word gained wide use in the mid-20th century with the rise of international organizations, especially after the United Nations coined the term 'non-governmental organization' (NGO) in its 1945 charter.

First known use

1853

1853, in the meaning defined above