Meaning & use
nonautomatic
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Not working or happening by itself; needing a person to operate or control it.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a nonautomatic process. It can also follow 'be': The process is nonautomatic.
Patterns
- nonautomatic process
- nonautomatic system
- nonautomatic control
The old machine is nonautomatic, so you have to turn the handle yourself.
We switched from a nonautomatic system to one that runs on its own.
A nonautomatic door must be opened by hand.
Common combinations
- nonautomatic process
- Mixing the ingredients is a nonautomatic process in this small bakery.
- nonautomatic control
- The factory uses nonautomatic control for safety checks.
- nonautomatic system
- Their nonautomatic system requires an operator at all times.
Synonyms and how they differ
- manual
- More common and usually means operated by hand, while nonautomatic can also mean not self-acting in a broader sense.
- hand-operated
- Focuses on being worked by hand; nonautomatic is wider and can describe any process that is not automatic.
Opposites
Word family
- automatic adjective
- Working by itself without human control.
- automatically adverb
- In a way that happens by itself.
Commonly confused: nonautomatic or automatic?
nonautomatic vs automatic
Automatic means it works by itself; nonautomatic means it does not. The prefix non- makes the opposite.
Practice
What does 'nonautomatic' mean in the sentence 'The nonautomatic car wash requires an attendant'?
Choose one answer.
Nonautomatic means not automatic, so it needs a person. The other options describe automatic behavior or a fault, which is not the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nonautomatic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.