what does persona non grata mean

“Persona non grata” means an unwelcome or unacceptable person, especially someone who is officially or very clearly not wanted in a place or group.

Basic meaning

• It is a Latin phrase that literally means “person not pleasing” or “unwelcome person.”

• In everyday English, it describes someone who is no longer welcome somewhere, like a friend banned from a club or house.

Diplomatic use

• In diplomacy, a “persona non grata” is a foreign diplomat a country declares unacceptable, which usually leads to that person’s recall or expulsion.

• This is a formal act under international law and is one of the strongest signals of disapproval between governments.

Everyday and media use

• Outside diplomacy, people use it more loosely for anyone socially “banned” or shut out from a group, event, or community.

• News headlines often use the phrase for dramatic effect, for example when a city or organization symbolically declares a public figure “persona non grata” to show strong disapproval.

TL;DR: “Persona non grata” = an unwelcome person, either in a strict diplomatic sense (a foreign envoy expelled or rejected) or informally (someone no longer wanted in a social or professional setting).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.