Meaning & use
non-conformant
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Not meeting a required standard, rule or specification.
Grammar: Describes a product, process or file: non-conformant products. Not used in the comparative.
Patterns
- non-conformant with something
- non-conformant products
- non-conformant to a standard
The factory recalled all non-conformant parts before shipping.
Any item non-conformant with the safety rules must be rejected.
The audit found several non-conformant processes in the warehouse.
nouncountabletechnical
A product, process or item that fails to meet a required standard.
Grammar: Used mainly in technical writing: report the non-conformants.
Patterns
- identify non-conformants
- a list of non-conformants
Inspectors marked each non-conformant with a red tag.
The report listed the non-conformants found during the inspection.
Non-conformants are stored separately until they are fixed or scrapped.
Word forms
| plural | non-conformants |
|---|
Common combinations
- non-conformant product
- The non-conformant product was removed from the production line.
- non-conformant with the standard
- The software was non-conformant with the new standard.
- non-conformant material
- Non-conformant material must be clearly labeled.
- report a non-conformant
- Workers are trained to report a non-conformant immediately.
Synonyms and how they differ
- non-compliant
- Very close in meaning and often used in the same contexts; 'non-conformant' is more common in engineering and standards work.
- defective
- Means the item is faulty, not just that it fails to meet a rule; a non-conformant item may work perfectly but be the wrong size.
Opposites
Word family
- conform verb
- To behave or be made according to a rule or standard.
- conformity noun
- The state of meeting a rule or standard.
- non-conformity noun
- A failure to meet a rule or standard.
Commonly confused: non-conformant or nonconformist?
non-conformant vs nonconformist
A nonconformist is a person who refuses to follow accepted ideas or customs. A non-conformant is a thing that fails to meet a technical standard.
Practice
During the inspection, they found three parts that were ______ with the design rules.
Choose one answer.
'Non-conformant with' means not meeting the rules, which fits the inspection context. 'Non-conformists' are people, and the other two words mean 'cannot be canceled' and 'not practical to act on'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non-conformant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.