Meaning & use
non sequiturs
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“non sequiturs” is a form of “non sequitur”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nouncountableformaltechnical
Statements or remarks that do not logically follow from what was said before.
Grammar: This is the plural form; the singular is non sequitur. It is often used in formal writing about logic, arguments, or conversations.
Patterns
- a series of non sequiturs
- full of non sequiturs
- reply with non sequiturs
His speech was full of non sequiturs, jumping from taxes to his childhood without any connection.
The reviewer said the essay contained several non sequiturs that weakened its argument.
She answered the serious question with a string of non sequiturs about the weather.
nouncountabletechnical
In formal logic, conclusions that do not follow from the premises given.
Grammar: Technical use; usually appears in academic writing about reasoning and fallacies.
Patterns
- logical non sequiturs
- identify non sequiturs
- avoid non sequiturs
The logic textbook explains how to spot non sequiturs in an argument.
A conclusion that ignores the evidence is one of the most common non sequiturs.
Students practiced rewriting non sequiturs so that the reasoning was valid.
Word forms
| singular | non sequitur |
|---|
Common combinations
- a string of non sequiturs
- The interview became a string of non sequiturs that confused everyone.
- full of non sequiturs
- The draft was full of non sequiturs and needed a complete rewrite.
- logical non sequiturs
- The professor pointed out the logical non sequiturs in the paper.
- dismiss something as non sequiturs
- Critics dismissed his claims as non sequiturs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fallacies
- Fallacies are false or mistaken beliefs, or flawed arguments; non sequiturs specifically fail because the conclusion does not follow.
- irrelevancies
- Irrelevancies are remarks that are off topic; non sequiturs may be on topic but still do not follow logically.
Opposites
Word family
- non sequitur noun
- The singular form: a statement that does not logically follow.
Commonly confused: non sequiturs or non sequitur?
non sequiturs vs non sequitur
Non sequitur is singular; non sequiturs is plural. Use non sequitur for one statement and non sequiturs for more than one.
Practice
The debate was frustrating because the candidate kept answering with ______ instead of addressing the question.
Choose one answer.
Non sequiturs is correct because the sentence refers to more than one remark. Non sequitur is singular, sequiturs is not a standard English word, and non-sequitur with a hyphen is not the usual spelling.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non sequiturs”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.