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Definition
something said that does not logically follow from what preceded it- The story may sound like a non sequitur, but bear with me and you'll see how it shines light on the issue.
- "Uncle Jack, I think you've made a non sequitur but I'm not at all positive."Harper Lee -- Go Set a Watchman
- "—"Excuse me there, Mr Serjeant," quoth Partridge, "that's a non sequitur.Henry Fielding -- Tom Jones
- Everyone in the Glass family—Zooey certainly not least—was familiar with this sort of non-sequitur from Mrs. Glass.J.D. Salinger -- Franny and Zooey
- You keep talking in non sequiturs.Robert Ludlum -- The Bourne Identity
- Non sequiturs often catch the unwary off guard.J.D. Robb -- Immortal in Death
- Molly has gotten used to this kind of non sequitur.Christina Baker Kline -- Orphan Train
- No non sequiturs, three-two, one game all.Tom Stoppard -- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
- LuLing often issued what they considered non sequiturs, as free-floating as dust motes.Amy Tan -- The Bonesetter's Daughter
- No stream of non sequiturs and jangled prose.Steve Lopez -- The Soloist
- He saw too much," I say, still thinking about the impasse, but DeWeese looks puzzled and John doesn't register at all, and I realize the non sequitur too late.Robert M. Pirsig -- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- The person questioned smiles beatifically and responds in some non sequitur that would make the babble of the Web's worst village idiot seem like sage aphorisms in comparison.Dan Simmons -- Hyperion
- Alfred scolds me, every time we meet; and he has the better of me, I grant,—for he really does something; his life is a logical result of his opinions and mine is a contemptible non sequitur.Harriet Beecher Stowe -- Uncle Tom's Cabin
- This is a non sequitur that has been nibbling on the edges of Hiro's mind for the last ten minutes: Laser light has a particular kind of gritty intensity, a molecular purity reflecting its origins.Neal Stephenson -- Snow Crash
- After saying this I simply cannot tell whether her words make up a non sequitur or not, when she replies in the most desolate voice I've ever heard, "But oh, Stingo, you can't imagine what it's like to grow up in a Jewish family."William Styron -- Sophie's Choice
- I did not mean to abuse the cloth; I only said your conclusion was a non sequitur.Henry Fielding -- Tom Jones
- "Indispensable" as strictly applied to captive human beings at Auschwitz would be a non sequitur.William Styron -- Sophie's Choice
- This non sequitur disoriented Wang.Cixin Liu -- The Three-Body Problem
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