Meaning & use
non-conductive
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Meaning
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalphysics
Not allowing electricity, heat or sound to pass through easily.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a non-conductive coating, the handle is non-conductive.
Patterns
- non-conductive material
- be non-conductive
Rubber is non-conductive, so electricians use it on tool handles.
The wires are covered in a non-conductive coating.
Dry wood is mostly non-conductive, but wet wood can carry current.
Common combinations
- non-conductive material
- Plastic is a common non-conductive material.
- non-conductive coating
- The cable has a non-conductive coating for safety.
- non-conductive gloves
- Wear non-conductive gloves when working near live wires.
- non-conductive surface
- Place the device on a non-conductive surface.
- non-conductive paint
- They used non-conductive paint on the circuit board.
Synonyms and how they differ
- insulating
- Insulating is the everyday word for blocking heat or electricity, while non-conductive sounds more scientific and is mainly about electricity.
- dielectric
- Dielectric is a specialist term for an insulator that can store electric charge, so it is narrower than non-conductive.
- resistant
- Resistant needs an object, such as heat-resistant, while non-conductive is used alone.
Opposites
Word family
- conduct verb
- to allow electricity or heat to pass through
- conductive adjective
- able to carry electricity or heat
- conductor noun
- a material that carries electricity
- conductivity noun
- how well something carries electricity
Commonly confused: non-conductive or nonconducting?
non-conductive vs nonconducting
Nonconducting means almost the same thing but is more of a general description, while non-conductive often describes a property of a material.
Practice
Why do electricians use tools with rubber handles?
Choose one answer.
Rubber is non-conductive, so electricity does not pass through it to the user's hand. The conductive option is the opposite and would make the tools dangerous.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non-conductive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.