non-eventn.
/ˌnɒnᵻˈvɛnt/, U.S. /ˌnɑnəˈvɛnt/, /ˌnɑniˈvɛnt/ 1. An event that did not take place.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > uneventfulness or failure to happen
failure1643
eventlessness1852
uneventfulness1878
non-event1936
non-happening1968
1936 Jrnl. Philos. 33 94 Any such rational, intrinsic determination as I have considered makes the impossible assertion of an actual event at least partly caused by a non-event.
1984 Mind 93 228 (B)..is of no use to someone unable to tell an event from a non-event.
1992 G. Vidal Live from Golgotha xvii. 180 Is our entire religion based on a non-event?
2. An unimportant or unexciting event, esp. one which was expected or intended to be important; an anticlimactic occurrence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > occurrence or event > non-event
non-experience1939
non-event1962
1962 Spectator 30 Nov. 853/1 The chief non-event of Gilmour's campaign was also, he says, the product of the ‘serious’ press.
1966 K. Amis Anti-death League 186 To find this view supported by events, or as now by non-events, was depressing.
1972 Guardian 22 Jan. 15/3 The exchange of signatures is a non-event... It is neither truly historic nor of much practical significance.
1994 New Scientist 23 July 40/1 He simply looked into the camera and said that what he had witnessed had been the biggest nonevent in his life.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1936