“Non” sense

Add comment March 13th, 2009

The word is “nonprofit,” one word, no hyphen, noun or adjective.

The guidelines for “non-” are essentially the same as for all standard prefixes: no hyphen unless the word after the prefix is capitalized (non-European) or to avoid an awkward or potentially confusing repetition of a letter (non-native).

The only somewhat common exception here is the slang “non-starter,” meaning “an expected occurrence, project, etc. that fails to materialize” or “a worthless idea.”

Remember: It’s “nonprofit,” one word; the hyphenated “non-profit” is a “no-no.”