Nonathletic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. An individual who exhibits little to no affinity for sports and physical activities can be referred to as lacking athletic tendencies
2. A person who shows an absence of interest or ability in areas of physical fitness and sports is viewed as non-athletic
3. Describes someone who does not have athletic abilities or enthusiasm for physical sports and exercise

Etymology: "Nonathletic" is a plain compound: the prefix "non-", meaning "not", attached to "athletic". Its history therefore runs entirely through the older word. "Non-" comes from Old English "nān" ("not one", "none"), which was the source of the English negative prefix, while "athletic" was borrowed into English from Middle French "athletique", which had passed through Latin "āthlēticus" from Ancient Greek "ᾱ̓θλητῐκός" (āthlētĭkós), meaning "of contests" or "of athletes." The Greek root is "ᾱ̓θλον" (âthlon), "prize" or "contest," so the original sense of the whole family was competition for a prize rather than physical fitness in general. The combination "non-" plus "athletic" is a modern English formation; the source does not record a date for it, so it is best understood as a simple negation of an adjective that was already in use. Its meaning, "not sporty," follows directly from the sense "athletic" had acquired in English, where it came to describe physical strength, speed, and skill in sport.

Synonyms: unathletic, non-sporty

Antonyms: athletic, sporty