non-u

1. 1.

   not characteristic of the upper classes especially in language use

   Similarlower-class

   United Kingdom

Questions about non-u

What does non-u mean?

non-u means "not characteristic of the upper classes especially in language use".

How many syllables are in non-u?

non-u has 2 syllables: no-n-u. The stress falls on "no".

Is non-u a common word?

non-u 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.