nonstarter

noun

non·​start·​er ˌnän-ˈstär-tər 

1

: one that does not start

2

: someone or something that is not productive or effective

his son has been, in politics a nonstarter

—Anthony Lejeune

Examples of nonstarter in a Sentence

She's the leading scorer among the team's nonstarters.

Recent Examples on the Web

Several high-profile CEOs have demanded that their workers come back to the office five days a week, but for most employees, that kind of RTO mandate is a nonstarter, experts say. —Byemma Burleigh, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2024

For Israel and the U.S., this is widely seen as a worst-case scenario, a nonstarter. —Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 July 2024

Still, Smith took aim at Republicans for quickly tacking on provisions that made the bill a nonstarter for Democrats. —Ken Tran, USA TODAY, 14 June 2024

The union also wants the reinstatement of a pension scheme that was abolished in 2008, which is a nonstarter for Boeing. —Elodie Mazein, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1