What does nonresponse mean?
Nonresponse denotes the failure or absence of a reply to a question, letter, request, formal notice, or questionnaire. It is especially common in legal and administrative language, where it may describe a missed deadline or failure to answer a proceeding, and in research, where nonresponse rate and nonresponse bias concern the proportion of participants who do not answer. The word is generally more formal than "no reply" and does not necessarily mean that a person deliberately refused to communicate; that stronger implication depends on context. A nonresponse can indicate oversight, indifference, strategic silence, or avoidance, so its significance is often determined by the relationship between the parties and the circumstances of the unanswered communication. In ordinary discussion, the phrase is clearest when the expected reply and the length of the silence are made explicit.
nounThe act or fact of failing to reply to a question, communication, request, or legal or administrative process. It may be used neutrally to describe an absent reply or, in some contexts, to imply deliberate silence or avoidance.
- The failure or absence of a reply to a communication, question, request, or summons.
- The failure of a party to answer a formal legal or administrative proceeding within the required time.
- A participant's failure to answer a survey or questionnaire, considered as a category or proportion in research.
"After several reminders went unanswered, the committee attributed the delay to administrative nonresponse."
"The email received no response, and a week of nonresponse followed."
"The study noted that high nonresponse could make its sample unrepresentative."
The regular plural is used when referring to separate instances of failure to respond.
"The researcher documented the nonresponses before adjusting the survey results."
A nonresponse can say a great deal—except what the person was actually expected to say.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does nonresponse come from?
The word was formed in English during the 19th century from the Latin prefix non-, meaning "not," and response, from Latin respondere, meaning "to answer or reply." The Latin verb respondere was constructed from re- and spondere, "to promise," and became the source of English words including respond, respondent, and correspondence. Nonresponse thus literally means "not responding" or "the absence of a response."
How nonresponse is actually used
The term is formal and relatively technical. In legal, administrative, and research contexts it often remains neutral, though repeated silence may carry the implication of avoidance or refusal. It is sometimes written as a hyphenated compound, "non-response," especially in institutional and academic prose.
Easily confused with nonresponse
A nonanswer is an evasive or uninformative reply, whereas nonresponse generally means that no reply was made.
Nonresponsive is an adjective describing someone or something that fails to react, while nonresponse is a noun naming the failure or absence of a reply.