nolo contendere

1. 1.

   (law) an answer of `no contest' by a defendant who does not admit guilt but that subjects him to conviction

   Synonymsnon vult

   Broaderanswer

   criminal law

Questions about nolo contendere

What does nolo contendere mean?

nolo contendere means "(law) an answer of `no contest' by a defendant who does not admit guilt but that subjects him to conviction".

What is another word for nolo contendere?

Close synonyms include non vult. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is nolo contendere a common word?

nolo contendere is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.